Karaoke Forums

Well I guess that could be true. Unlike Best Buy, Circuit City, my sale items are always in stock though..

James
Maninblack

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I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

The only problem I hav with this is what Knighshow said :

If you are trying to CREATE something from scratch & you have a small following which we do about 18 people right now & only half or so show up to this new gig its going to do no good. You cant get a following after one or two shows and then before you know it youve done freebies all over town  & they have already formed their opinion about karaoke & your company too into believing it wont work. We never do free shows b/c of this. I know of places that have had free shows & this has happened & they wont even talk to us b/c someone else has done a free show & flopped.

JMO

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Kelley
Star Sounds Karaoke & Mobile Recording Studio


[shadow=black][scroll]You have to respect your audience. Without them, you're essentially standing alone, singing to yourself....KD Lang[/scroll][/shadow]

Hi kelly  :wave:

I'm confused - That's nothing new by the way.

If the show is going to flop, wouldn't it flop if you were paid or not?


I know the freebie method doesn't appeal to everyone. Knightshows idea
is more up my alley. I like the idea of saying I'll do the 1st 2 hours free
to give you a sample. Then let them know if they want me to stay longer that evening what it will cost. I am the queen of that one.  :dancin: Not to be confused with the King Of Karaoke, Bigdog.  LMAO

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Babs,
It's a long story, buyt basically I got basshed, then banned on a different website/forum for giving free shows.  I find it no different than getting free samples in the mail.

I like the idea of giving away only 2 hours, but in most situations for me that would not work.

I live in BFE, and it takes time for "the word" to get out, before you get a regular crowd.  One place, where i gave two 1/2 price gigs, it took about 5 shows to get a good crowd.  The first night, there were only like 10 people there, all were singing, but only 10.  By the 5 show there were about 40 people with about 1/2 singing.  Needless to say, if I only gave them 2 hours free, I probably would have been out the door, with no more shows there.  But giving away a bit more, got my foot in the door, and now it is a semi-regular gig for me.  I figure I lost, by going 1/2 price, about $400, but I have gaind thus far approx $4000, and the gig is still active.

I guess there are a lot of DJ/KJs that are worried about stepping on the toes of other DJ/KJs.  But for me it is a business, and I leave personal emothins out of it.  I am in it to make $$$$$$, and for the fun of it.  If I wasn't making $$$$, I would not be doing it.  Just like in any othere business.  I will try almost anything to get a gig, within reason, even if that include stepping on some toes, or hurting other's feelings.  Call me a bas tard (don't know if that is in the bad word file), but I am in it primalry for the $$$$.

Oh yeah, SwingCatKurt.....

I do like the idea of the presentation, but like I said before, it probably will not make a difference to a bar owner.

But, upon further review, it probably would help al lot when going after private gigs, such as wedding receptions, anniversarys, or just a private party for no particular reason.

Twans - I totally get you.
I was confused by Kelly's post. I think she was
saying doing a free gig to try to get more business did not work for her
because the show would flop. They have to build a crowd to get business
in their area. But if they paid you and the 1st night flopped, I don't think you'd be back either. That was my confusion. If I'm wrong which I'm thinking I am missing something here, sorry sweetie.

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Twans - I know i have heard argument here also about people not liking
the free gig promotion. To each there own. I like the idea.
How horrible you were kicked off a site for it. What was there reasoning for that?

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Well, it can flop, free or paid, dosen't matter.  But, with a free show, I think you have a better chance of getting a regular gig, even if the first one flopped.  JMO too.

BTW, I usually have a few people that follow me to new gigs,  close freinds, but I guess that is loading the deck to say.

I also tell the bar ownere/manager that I don't guarantee to draw a crowd (no one can do that), but if the crowd is there, and they are there for the Karaoke, I will keep em there.  And 95% of the time I can keep em there spending money and having a fun time.

When I was doing community theater in my home town we used to have friends of the shows sit in the audience to sometimes get the audience to participate more. The friend would begin the clapping or laughing or if it was a mellow-drama the friend would throw the first popcorn or cast the first boo or hiss.

This would give the audience the ok to participate. They were often a little nervous about distracting the performers. In karaoke sometimes a few friends in the audience can help get the crowd more involved in other ways.

I like the idea of offering a free or discounted gig to get your foot in the door. That may not work in all regions and maybe not even in mine but I will keep it in mind for when I need to consider it.

There is nothing wrong with a sales presentation, in fact it's very professional to have one.

However, they can be over done.    You only have a small window of Bar owner attention span.    If there is too much to read or too much info period, you will lose them after a certain point.    They will get bored or disinterested, in you/ it.


You need to keep it brief and informative at the same time.   Good sales presentations are not easy to develope.    If you continuously do not the get jobs you go after then you need to reevaluate your total presentation.   It could very well be just not working.    You will need to go over everything and make changes.

Telling a bar owner I use $600 mikes could impress the pants off them.   But then again it might not do anything, if they don't know everyone else uses $50 mikes.

Telling them I have 9,000 one of a kind songs, will not impress someone that has a heard of KJs with 30,000 songs on a hard drive.

Telling them I bring in over $50,000 worth of music and professional sound equipment, might not do a thing for them.   If the competition charges $50 less a night.

It's all in the delivery.   Some sales people close every deal and some don't.    Read books about making sales presentations.  It can't hurt.     Selling is an art form.   That's what you are doing.   You are selling you and your service.

You become like every other dime a dozen salesmen.     So are very good and some suck.

Read Tom Hopkins and Zig Ziglar for sales books.

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

Yep, just coz U have a machine and some discs, doesn't mean you're a KJ.

I have competition that does everything I do.    I mean every little thing.   It's like looking at a clone.    Same jokes, same lines, same props.     He can't work steady and can't figure it out.       [highlight=crimson]He's not me.[/highlight]      He's a jerk.     That's the only difference.    LMAO

waitaminute... if he's a jerk... then there IS no difference!

Announcer over the loud speaker. <..and there's the spike by Knightshow...>