Where do you advertise?

[musimedia]

Bump! Need ideas !

[joelpatterson]

You'd think that, theoretically, you could advertise and get results... but my experience has been that it takes personal contact to get anywhere.

You need to inspire trust in a potential customer, plus that person needs to feel you are on a similar wavelength and furthermore, you like their music-- none of this happens in the one-way "advertising" you can buy in print or other media.

What worked for me in the past (and to this day) is to get out and immerse yourself in the community of musicians-- the open mics, the street fairs, anywhere people are singing songs for a public-- introduce yourself and present your spiel, hand out your card, sell yourself and your services one-on-one.

The BEST advertising is a great project, completed and blitzed to the wider world by an enthusiastic band/singer... it really is the case that the proof is there for all to admire in these puddings.

[fabricaudio]

We advertise here

1. Online fanzines = Banners that can be used to promote any kind of new release that came up from the studio or just our logo. It is a whole package idea since we partner with the fanzines and we offer interviews in our lounge to the bands as well as album reviews and gig reviews

2. Music forum competition = We run two competitions in two forums. The winner each month is selected based in his activity in terms of profile update and social interaction. It is good because it is titled like a prize and not like come and play for free

3. Allstudios.co.uk = It is more for people who already decided to record in a studio and they are looking to find the one that suits them

4. Flyers in live venues = We can get noticed from bands that perform there and their fans that may have a band. It creates also a relationship with the venue since we exchange flyers in order to inform our bands that play in the studio if there are any good gigs. This relationship can be useful if one of our bands want to make a gig

5. Personal service =We make sure each musician that comes to the studio has our business card, offering good service is the most important because you build you client-list.

My opinion is that you need to spread the word but gently. Spamming people or forcing them to get a flyer is something i wouldnt like to happen to me so we dont do it. People who are interested they will find you they just need to know where.

Nikolas

[Jim Keaney @ Devotion Recording]

I see some local studios hanging 'take one'-style flyers at the convenience store/sub shop. I can only imagine the kind of jobs they have cold-calling them.

[jonathan jetter]

at least here in NYC i have found advertising useless.

i think i got 2 good gigs from craigslist. that's the sum of the results from all the advertising i've ever done. and even those people wanted to know the details of my experience and hear a bunch of my previous work.

word of mouth is the only successful way i've found. there are like a million small studios and engineers in new york. a lot of them have nicer gear than i do. the only thing i have to go on is that most of my clients like their product. and i go out of my way to know the city's music scene inside and out.

[shaneoconnor]

advertising is not useless, it is more of how you look at it.

a lot of engineers will say "it is all word of mouth"


how does one create word of mouth?

talking to session musicians, new bands, studio owners, etc.... is that not p2p advertising?

[Aaron Miller]

Originally Posted by shaneoconnor

advertising is not useless, it is more of how you look at it.

a lot of engineers will say "it is all word of mouth"


how does one create word of mouth?

talking to session musicians, new bands, studio owners, etc.... is that not p2p advertising?

I agree that non traditional advertising works. 95% of my clients are refered to my by someone I spoke with or someone who responded to my "one song for free" adds at music stores or craigslist. It's all about creating word-of-mouth: doing all you can to give people reasons to recommend you.

[The Byre]

Having a website that comes to the top for key words for your market in Google is vital.

Other than that here is what Paul Robson of finance company Media Lease told me once:

"Too many studios think all they have to do is fill a room full of kit, put up a pretty website and wait for the customers to come rolling in. Life isn’t like that! If you spend one day a year on the phone, talking to prospective customers, that would be one day very well spent. One day a month would be even better. Better still, get a professional sales person to come in one or two days a month and sell the studio properly. But get them to note down any reasons for not wanting to use your studio and pay close attention to what they say! Just doing something as simple as that could turn your business around!"

[cananball]

Networking. Get out and meet people and get your name out organiclly. Give them a card, get their card and stay in touch. Stay in touch with all of your clients too. Do this for a few years and you won't need to advertise.

Sent from my DROIDX using Gearslutz.com App

[rcb4t2]

Originally Posted by Aaron Miller

I agree that non traditional advertising works. 95% of my clients are refered to my by someone I spoke with or someone who responded to my "one song for free" adds at music stores or craigslist. It's all about creating word-of-mouth: doing all you can to give people reasons to recommend you.

Hi Aaron - I was hoping you could elaborate a little on your one song for free setup. How do you structure it - do you set up time limits, do you include mix/master or is it just tracking? What kind of returns do you see on those deals? Thanks!

[me109]

95% of my clients are referred to my by someone I spoke with or someone who responded to my "one song for free" adds at music stores or craigslist.

Aaron, I, like rcb4t2, am also intrigued about the "one song for free" ads because two nights I had actually thought about doing this, too.

I'm concerned if it led to any awkward situations, how long you ran the ad, and how many decided to record more songs after going to the trouble of setting up the first time.

[Aaron Miller]

I've posted a "one free song" add several times. Once was on craigslist and the others at local music stores. I've had half a dozen clients take me up on the offer in the past year or so. One of them took the free song and I never saw them again but the others hired me for more songs. I'm working with a client now who's first song was for free. Now we're on the first of 5-6 more songs at regular price.

My policy for the first song is too take as long as needed to get a great finished product. That includes tracking, recording, and "light mastering" if the client won't have it mastered elsewhere. I'll do revisions if necessary and won't rush anything. The goal is 100% satisfaction. Although this sounds like a policy that might be open to abuse, I haven't had any problems thus far. However, one thing I should mention is that I don't take on clients with zero talent, who appear to have zero potential to become a future paying client, or who seem like flakes, druggies, etc. With this "one song free" offer and with all my projects actually, I'm just not willing to mess with stuff like that. Clients are stepping into my home for one. Secondarily, I'm really busy with my regular job and school so there's no time for it. I'm not sure I would change this policy even if I were recording full time.

[me109]

Aaron, thanks for the information!

How do you go about weeding out the "clients with zero talent, who appear to have zero potential to become a future paying client, or who seem like flakes, druggies, etc." Do you phrase your ad in a certain way, or do you decide about them after talking with them, or what?

[Elliot1129]

Think about blitz advertising. Create some type of deal. It doesn't even have to be a deal, but make it seem like one. Then take your budget, something workable, say $2-3k and spread that out over one day. Print, radio, flyering, sponsored event, whatever. Just make sure your have your fingers in a little bit of everything and make sure it all hits at once. Most of your money is going to be spent on radio and print, but be sure to have cheap alternatives that your can follow up on. Go out to every open mic you can and be like, oh did you hear us on the radio? Beg and bribe your friends to pass the work on. Try and generate as much awareness for your brand as you can in a 48 hour period.

[jonathan jetter]

Originally Posted by Elliot1129

Think about blitz advertising. Create some type of deal. It doesn't even have to be a deal, but make it seem like one. Then take your budget, something workable, say $2-3k and spread that out over one day. Print, radio, flyering, sponsored event, whatever.

i can't speak for Vegas, but no one in NYC worth recording is going to pay attention to a radio ad about a recording studio.

that goes for talented amateurs as well as up-and-coming professionals.

[Capt Hair]

You can do a BOTB sweepstakes/sponsor one. Winner gets free recording time. (just do like a 3 song demo). Gets your name out there, and involved in the music scene by giving these bands gigs.

[therecordinghous]

where do i advertise? every single thing that comes out of my studio.

[me109]

jonathan jetter said:

i can't speak for Vegas, but no one in NYC worth recording is going to pay attention to a radio ad about a recording studio.

I traded out $3,000 of recordings and complete productions for radio ads in a 21 county area and got 2 phone calls by people who never got back with me.

Now, I'm mostly contacting people on the musician's community of Craigslist or locals I find on reverbnation or facebook who have talent and play music I can live with. I let them know what I like about a couple of songs and mention what I do. I offered the first song free with no obligation for straight recording, and if they want a complete production, a very low rate for the first song.

I just found a very talented guy who wants me to do a full arrangement and he's got over a hundred songs. He's trying to put a band together and I imagine he will mention me to the people he comes in contact with. Meanwhile, if he decides to let me do a CD of his songs, the rest at full rate, we can do one a month or so and eventually he'll have his CD, I'll make some money, and I may meet a few more prospects. It'll be a while before I can quit my day job, (once I find one), but we'll see what happens.

[craigdouglas]

For me..print ads just help with branding. What I've noticed is that i don't get work directly from the print ad. (card stock ads, paper ads) but when someone hears about me from word of mouth, they go "oh i heard about that studio somewhere.." because they saw the ad so many times. it just seals the deal.

[dabigfrog]

work. do good work. consistently ... pay your dues. go find acts w/talent to record. treat everyone well. repeat.

word of mouth. everyone of your clients should be happy billboards and salesmen for you as they go out into the world mingling with other musicians (your future clients) if they got a great product, enjoyed the people and the process at your studio, had a great easy time and experience with happy results....you will too because i have found those people enthusiastically telling everyone where they should go to record their next project.

continually improve your set up. mics. gear. space. lighting, make the space fit your clients needs. be professional and casual .... are you a musician? musicians like to work with musicians/engineer/producers.

trust. do you trust our ears? do you like the sound of our previous products?
do you trust that we will like and help you create this thing with you?

this is what people look for when they look for a studio which can be intimidating and expensive and a depressing journey. someone with skills, ears and will give a shit.

beyond that i have found advertising a waste of $ for a studio, what comes out of the studio should help sell the studio.
YMMV