Karaoke Forums

Hello everybody.... I am very new to this site and new to running my own karaoke... I have just bought myself all of the gear necessary to start my own business and have finally finished all of my books...  Would anyone be happy enough to help me with little hits on how to promote myself so I can get started ASAP... I really take a lot of pride in what I do and hope to be as successful as I was when I ran my own ballet studio... Many thanks and hoping to hear from someone....

you ran a ballet studio and gave up all them skinny girls in tights to do KJ?....Are you nuts?

yeah, REAL good TECH advice keith.

Rolande00, welcome to the forum.

Fraid I can't gvie you much advice... I'm kinda a failed KJ in my area (extremely oversaturated).

Very funny, especially seeing that rolande00 is female. Look at the gender sign Typical.

rolande00 , start roaming the bars if you want a permanent gig somewhere. Take one of your books along, and talk to the manager/owner. Sell yourself. If you want to do only private funtions and weddings, advertising in the local paper and networking with party/wedding planners is a good idea.

Actually, it's called "humor" knightshow....I quess you failed that too?

You jump in here to snipe at me, but you got no advise for him...Your motives are obvious....I'll make it easy for you. The next time I post a reply anywhere I'll PM you so you don't have to lurk/stalk like a typical troll.

Roland00,

That will be perhaps your biggest hurdle-Convincing bar owners they need you AND you are better than the competition.

What has happened in this area is there are now so many cartrunk KJ's that it's become a price war where they work for 30 bucks a night....The bar owners don't care that their system sounds like crap and they hardly have and songs or that the songs they do have are pirated...In this market, it doesn't matter how well you promote yourself, someone will underbid you.

I hope your area is different...If it is, then get your foot in the door somewhere and try to build your singer/drinker customer base....All the bars compete with each other for the same customers, so start stealing customers for your owner.

Remember this:
A. Singers want to sing, they don't want to listen to you all night.
B. You need a decent system that makes the singers sound good.
C. You need as much music as you can afford and you need to keep it up to date.
D. Don't forget there might be isolated markets that have been ignored, so don't overlook gay bars and whatever...If you work those markets, then get to know what they like.(Don't say it Steven!)

I still can't believe you gave up all those tutu's for this!

Yep, one way to get your name out there is private gigs...Those folks can insist to the bar owners how good you are. It sure helps when his customers tell him you are better than what he has already.

I thank you for your words of wisdom.  I'm not even sure whether you are going to receive this thank you or not..  As I said I am only new to this and I have never been of forums before.  I understand very well what you are saying about the competition being tough.  I guess I have dreams of being as successful at this as I was at teaching ballet.  I feel I have the right personality, and I do agree entirely that it is certainly not up to me to be singing on the nights/days I run my Karaoke.  I had no intentions of doing so anyway.  I'm just looking for an opportunity of making people feel good about themselves and the opportunity of meeting new people as well.  The idea of private functions sound great, I even thought maybe I would register with an entertainment agency.  I was a little sad to hear that some places do not care much as to whether the gear is of great quality or not, as I have taken a lot of time buying high quality, and I do take a lot of pride in what I do.   Nevertheless, I do thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to reply. Many thanks, Rolande

Actually, not being a troll, but wondering why you would try to mess over a newbie like you initially did.

THIS post I just quoted was fine though.

keith, I have NO ulterior motives towards you, or anybody else. Chill dude! Mayhaps thou doth protest too much! I said when I posted  initially it wouldn't do much for me to give advice to a newbie entering into the business... man, it would be like a bear trying to teach table manners to a monkey. And it was for the same reasons you are stating... oversaturation.

I'm not QUALIFIED, because I can't get an additional gig... but that doesn't mean I give someone who may not know what's going on a ration of sh*t, either. your HUMOR (if you can call it that), is lost on someone that doesn't have a feel for the way we are doing things around here.

Keith, you'll dam n well know it when I friggin' SNIPE. There won't be any doubt in anbody's mind!

Similar to ballet, when you have a skill or studio how do you market yourself ?  Isn't that what this is about ?  Getting exposure ?  You stated you already have the equipment, now you need to get out and either "pound the pavement" going to bars or lounges that you think you'd like to setup in, or advertising in local papers as well as posting on MANY bulletin boards where you think people looking for entertainment would read your ads... Advertising takes some money if you want to do the private parties.... The entertainment section of a large local paper is a place to place an ad....It's not cheap,  yet when I taught music it got results,  my mom also ran a ballet studio...I was YOUNG at the time, and she didn't want me out've my room while she was teaching ... Now-adays, teaching out've my home scares me, due to liability in today's nutty world.. Everyone's suing someone... I wanted to teach piano, guitar, and bass still out've my home...Those who have taught out've their home have advised me that without insurance to cover me against weird claims in todays world... It's not advisable...Do you have cards printed up ?  Dropping some cards in the right places is also not a bad thing to do... My guess would be that this is easier than the marketing you did when "running your own ballet studio", because when you marketed YOUR OWN studio, you were trying to get other's to come to you... Now for starters you need to get your feet planted in a place as a mobile subcontractor for entertainment.. That can involve as little as "knowing bar owners", or as much as having to find a local place that actually is willing to try something different.  Other's here can tell you about licensing you might need, and you probably know about "setting up business" aspects already. Certain no-no's for instance, are assuming you run a computer based karaoke business, DO NOT have your library downloaded from Kazaa.. (to say the least)

I'll let someone more knowledgeable about the intricacies of this business help you from here...

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

We are still doing private parties only, as karaoke is not our primary income (at least for now...).  One idea of getting your name out there that we have had luck with:

Go and talk with the person that is in charge of booking banquet halls, or private halls.  We went and talked with and left cards with the Elks Lodge, VFW hall, a couple of large private club houses, banquet halls, etc.  Many people that contact them to set up and rent for a private function will also be looking for entertainment.  Just be sure and let them know if you are doing just karaoke, as many times they are looking also for DJ music.

Good Luck!

That's true!...DJ's seem to do best in this area...There are a few who maintain a decent KJ library and mix them together. These folks tend to like that most in this area....The bar owners are happy when the dance floor is full of chicks and the bar is full of guys buying them drinks.

How about this as a possibility.  Get to know OTHER KJ's in your area.. If they are sick, and need someone to fill in, or something happens, they might welcome you to fill in for them...Even exchange valuable info with you !   It's ALWAYS good to be on good terms with other's that share your interests !  Look at where fill-in work got Letterman and Leno, and god know's how many others.... Similarly "sitting in" for we musicians is about the best foot in the door too. I've lost gigs this way too, but such is life...  So I don't know what other's feelings here are regarding this. I do want to add, that when another musician or friend gave me a break, IF and when band members tried something underhanded such as offering me a job replacing the musician who was kind enough to offer me the fill-in work, I've refused... My loyalty is to those that help me... I'd never screw them... JMHO...  Yet having connections such as those that do work in the areas you want to get into, is a great "foot in the door",  and gain their trust, and never exploit that either !  Network with these people. Initially, isn't much of the entertainment business who likes us ?  Who we impact ?  Whether we are at the right place, at the right time ?  Sell yourself to others...


(which is easy for some of us because we're pretty damn cheap people    )


OK, I said I was getting out've the tech forum last night, and I mean it this time  <ducking>

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I agree with ya Steven, we have exchanged names and numbers with other KJ's in the area.  I was up front and let them know I only wanted to trade info so that if I had a call and was booked up, I would pass along the call.  And of course, if they ever got sick or needed a fill-in for vacation, etc., or had a call and they were booked up, to please give me a call.

So far, I have passed on more calls than I have received back.  Mostly for calls wanting DJ work, and rather than try and bluff and do a half-A$$ job, I would rather pass those calls on.  Most of our library is cdg's, and I felt I didnt have enuf music selection for what they wanted.....  I have done some small private parties where it was mainly DJ work, and have had great response back, I just want to get more music before going DJ only