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Think of your band like a business:
Ultimately the bands that succeed are bands that are capable of making the transition from the garage into a small business. When you start a small business, no matter what it is, you have to build the name and have people associate the product or service that you are selling with that name. For example if you are a jeweler the challenge is to get people to think of your store before they think of other stores.
When you are building a band, especially locally, it is challenging, because you not only have to get above the other bands locally, but you have to compete with bands that are getting radio airplay locally, nationally, on MTV, and etc. However, the good news for you is that most if not all of the bands out there do not market themselves well at all.
In order to market yourself you need to spend money on advertising. In Modesto the best way to go about that is probably to buy airtime on a local radio station. If you are in a larger market you probably might want to consider an annual contract with a local weekly entertainment rag like the News and Review in Sacramento or the LA Weekly. Whatever you choose to do remember that the key to marketing is consistency. Whatever you do it is not going to be real effective unless you are willing to commit to advertising in the medium you choose for the long term. If you don't then the advertising won't have a long term impact.
The result of advertising for your band will be familiarity. Familiarity breeds comfort and drives sales. It increases your draw and that increases your cd and live ticket sales. Bands that make this kind of transitions are the ones that make the jump to the next level.
I don't have the money:
Probably the biggest reason that bands don't advertise is that they don't have the money. I understand this argument and many times it is indeed true. My advice is that once your band starts generating revenue that all of that money goes into marketing so that you can earn more money for your band. Once you start making more money then you can invest more in advertising and you draw should continue to grow. The increases in revenue will NOT happen quickly. You need to be patient. It might even take a year of advertising consistently to see increases, but one thing is for sure: If you have a good quality product (ie great music) you will ultimately sell and build more across the board.
This is not the only way to market your band. 99% of the bands out there that succeed do so with limited or no marketing at all. However, I believe that if your band generates revenue marketing and advertising consistently will increase your draw and ultimately your success in developing your act.
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