Preparation: What every quartet should know

Marketing And PR

Tools For Success

The PR job is everyone's. Every member of your group should carry business cards. These can be reproduced by a professional printer or printed on an Inkjet or LaserJet printer. These should be handed out like candy to all potential clients or members.

Dedicated Phone Line And/Or Voice Mailbox

Get a business phone line that is answered by a live voice during office hours or have the line forwarded to a voice mail system to announce information to callers and allow the caller to leave a message. Securing a business phone line will also get you a free Yellow Pages ad, which can generate calls for entertainment opportunities.

Computer Hardware and Software

For word-processing, database management, ad design, PR materials and e-mail marketing, use a computer and printer loaded with graphics and PR documents related to your group. Invest in a scanner to digitally capture important or memorable pictures of your group for immediate incorporation into your promotional materials.

Fax Machine

Use a fax machine or WinFax Pro software or e-mail to broadcast press releases to many different media contacts with the touch of one button. Your fax can also be a way of accepting orders for recordings and sending contracts or PR stuff to clients.

PR Kit

Design a slick PR kit that tells them who you are, what you do, and why they should hire you. A similar package can be customized to present to potential members when they come to their first chapter meeting. It could include most of the information contained in the PR kit but could also contain a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section.

The Mailing List

At gigs, offer a door prize drawing (free set of CDs) to gather names for your mailing list. Maintain and constantly update your mailing list on the computer with all past booking and media contacts as well as local and regional media outlets, talent agents, meeting planners and show patron contacts. Mail or FAX itineraries to folks in your client base to keep them informed of where you'll be appearing in the future. If requested, my group sends pre-printed mailing labels to every promoter that hires us to help them sell more tickets and fill the audience with our fans.

This adds value to your package and gives the promoter more incentive to hire you over another group. Most groups have a mailing list. But they are clueless about its power.

Good Quality or Professional Photos of Your Group

Stock a quantity of 8X10 color and black and white photos with your group logo and contact information.

I recommend ABC Pictures in Springfield, Missouri, and give away the black and white photos at all public appearances. They are much more effective than a business card, but use those, too. The 8X10 B&W photos will cost $.11 each and the color shots cost $.40 each.

Online Marketing

Establish a presence on the WWW (a Web page is like a billboard that can be accessed by folks surfing the 'Net worldwide). Secure your our own domain name, to make it very easy for someone to find your official page.

The ability for someone to download sound bites and graphics of your group adds a nice touch. Our recent tour of Austria came about from a client in Graz that came across our Web page and downloaded sound bites from our CDs.

Data Gathering

The Web site can be set up to gather name/data for your mailing list, just like you should do at your concerts. The site should include photos, biographies, contact information and email links. The site must be updated often. You can have a single Web page or a detailed site with dozens of pages. Your site can also generate recording sales, though I would recommend setting up a secure server for handling credit card and other sensitive client information.

E-Mail

I do a vast majority of our correspondence via e-mail, which also reduces the expense of long distance calls.

Promoting Your Site

Creating the Web site is only part of the equation. People have to be able to find it. Registering the site with the top search engines can be done for a nominal fee. Have the Webmaster insert meta-tags within your site to have it listed higher whenever online searches are performed. Registering with the search engines will enhance the results from your online presence. Your group's e-mail address and Web site also needs to be printed on all business cards, letterhead, marketing literature and show programs, as well as mentioned on any voice mail announcement box.

Newsgroups

Usenet postings can be placed in all appropriate "Usenet" newsgroups in your area. Some of these can be used to promote upcoming appearances, solicit booking opportunities and recording sales.

Other Keys To PR And Marketing Success

Place regular advertising in newspapers, regional and national trade publications, and newsletters.

Legitimize Your Group Within The Community

Seek membership in the chamber of commerce to find out what conventions will be held in town in the coming years. Use proactive marketing to all convention contacts with PR kit and CD.

Talent Agents

Use proactive marketing to all regional talent agencies with PR kit and CD.

Your Last Impression Is As Important As Your First Impression

Follow up after every appearance with a thank you.

Play Ball

Seek out national anthem opportunities at every major sporting event that coincides with an appearance in each market you perform.

CD Reviews

There are many magazines, newspapers and Web sites that review CDs submitted by all kinds of groups, although it's a bit of a double-edged sword. A good review can be great PR for your group. A negative review is a different story.

Seek Professional Marketing Help

Many groups pay for music coaching, so you might consider hiring a knowledgeable person to assist you with Marketing and PR coaching as well.

The Grunt Work

Get a Federal Tax ID number if you earn income and a sales tax permit if you sell merchandise.

Travel Concerns

If you travel frequently, develop and maintain a relationship with a local travel agent to handle all group related travel. Of course, the Internet has many advantages these days over traditional travel agents.

Be Prepared

Send a pre-show checklist and other information to all booking contacts to assist them in preparing for their event and to seek the information you will need to be adequately prepared for every appearance.

Do Your Homework

Build a database of all the media outlets in your market through proactive phone calls, scanning the Yellow Pages, surfing the Internet or acquiring directories of media contacts. Gather the name of the media outlet, contact person, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, Web site URL and publication deadlines

Recordings

Every CD or tape order that goes out the door should include a thank you and a catalog with order form for ordering additional recordings.

Increase The Size Of Each Order

Establish a merchant service agreement to accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express to make it easy to do business with you. When negotiating with your bank or merchant service company, play down your volume of phone and mail order sales and play up your "point of purchase" transactions at concerts and conventions. You'll stand a better chance of getting approved and will receive a lower rate for processing your transactions. I would invest in a credit card terminal and printer ($600-800) that plugs into a phone line. Wireless models ($1,200-2,000) are now available. Clients can even and pay your fee with their credit card.

Concert Sales

The "supermarket theory" applies here. More shelf space equals more sales. Always have more than one sales location in the lobby. Determine in advance where the patrons will be walking on their way to the parking lot and how many exits will be open.

Utilize Wholesale Channels

The "supermarket theory" applies here, too. The more ways a customer can find out about your group or purchase your recordings, the more merchandise you will sell. In conjunction with your own retail sales, earning wholesale margins from a variety of other distribution channels will bring your group greater profits than relying on your group to be the sole source for your recordings.

Bookings

Who in your group currently handles booking inquiries and what is the procedure they use? Create a step-by-step procedure for handling incoming booking inquiries. Find out as much information as possible about the client or event and get the chapter PR kit in their hands before any fee is quoted. Make prompt responses to all inquiries with PR package that often includes a demo tape or CD. The demo tape or CD does increase the cost, but lets the prospective client know what to expect from your group. A professionally produced demo video is a must if your group wants to book more lucrative gigs. Design a bid response letter, performance agreement cover letter and a detailed contract that is customized to be appropriate for all types of bookings, rather than re-invent the wheel for every inquiry. The more professional you handle bookings with prospective clients, the more professional the client will treat you once you've secured the booking. A simple letter that states your desire to do their gig with fee and expense information is not enough to make you stand out. Everybody else does that. Be different!

Fee Negotiation

1. What is the group's purpose for accepting any engagement?
2. Is your group musically proficient, do you sing in tune, and generate a sound that is pleasing to the ear?
3. Is your show package entertaining?
4. Have you had success in competition?
5. Are you doing this just for fun?
6. Are gigs so few and far between that you'll jump at a freebie to get the chance to sing for anyone?
7. Is it to get exposure?
8. Do you need the exposure?
9. How much singing time are they asking for?
10. How many total hours will you be at the performance site?
11. How much time will you have to spend preparing for this event?
12. Do you have to spend time away from your job or family to do this gig?
13. What has this client paid for other similar entertainment groups?
14. When you discuss the gig with the client, do you ask him his budget first, or just quote a fee without knowing the client's budget?
15. What do other comparable groups in your area charge?
16. Are you being asked to learn and sing a special song for this gig?
17. Who is the client?
18. Is this a "for profit" endeavor with a sizable entertainment budget?
19. Is this a charitable event with little or no budget?
20. Is it to generate revenues to cover the overhead of running the "business" side of your group?
21. What does it COST YOU to sing in this group?
22. If you didn't have to spend any money out of your pocket to cover costs of running the business: coaching, arrangements, photos, postage, phone calls, recording sessions, business cards, advertising, gas, etc., what would the group's annual overhead be to cover these expenses?
23. How many offers for bookings have you been getting annually?
24. How many gigs can you accept without messing up your priorities to your family and job?
25. Do you get more offers than you can accept?
26. How far in advance are people calling to book your group?
27. If your annual overhead to run the day-to-day operations of your group without any out of pocket by the members is XYZ $$$, and you only average six paid gigs a year, how much would you have to charge the client, just to break even?
28. If you feel all the hours of preparation and investment to keep your group polished and afloat has a value, and your individual time is worth something, how many dollars should be factored in just for your time investment?
29. If your bank account is depleted, and you have an expenses only gig on the calendar, and a HIGH DOLLAR paid offer comes in (on the same date), one that would pay for those new costumes you desperately need, what would you do?
30. Is the client calling to book an a capella group or your group in particular?

Some Performance Tips

Avoid tension anywhere in your body, especially the neck. Use good breath support.

Sing From The Heart

Practically anyone can sing notes and words. An accomplished performer singing from the heart, can stir all kinds of emotions within the audience by using his/her whole body to express the mood and message of the song.

Give It Everything You've Got, Every Time

Sing every song as if it's the last time you will ever have the pleasure of performing it. If you are not going to try to do a better job each and every time you perform a song, WHY DO IT AT ALL?

Imagineering

Many prominent performance coaches promote imagineering. Knowing what to expect before you step foot on a stage gives you a tremendous advantage. Attain this comfort zone by doing complete run-throughs of your performance from beginning to end "in your head" many, many times before you ever see a stage. Imagine what it will be like when your name is announced, when you hear the applause as you enter the stage, how you will sing your first song, imagine the applause between songs, the second song, etc. If you know what to expect, you are less likely to be nervous on stage.

Visual Presentation

Walk out on any stage LIKE YOU OWN IT! Make it look easy (even if it's not).

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

Your level of proficiency on the stage will be directly linked to the attitude you have in a rehearsal environment.

If you coast through every rehearsal with the intention of saving your best stuff for the stage, you are hurting yourself, your fellow singers and your audience. Repetition by doing run-throughs is great providing you try to make each run-through a little better than the last. If you accept out of tune singing or sloppy execution of the interpretive plan at rehearsal, it is bound to carry over to your stage performances. If you just go through the motions at rehearsal, you are wasting the most valuable asset we all have-TIME!

Give Yourself The Best Chance To Succeed

Your singing machine will perform best if you do the following:

• Allow adequate warm up time for each singer. (Some require more than others)
• Hydrate your body by drinking lots of water every day, not just the day of the show.
• Avoid smoking or smoke filled rooms.
• Avoid alcohol before a performance. (Impairs the senses and dries out the vocal chords)
• Get adequate rest.
• Use care with your speaking voice to avoid unnecessary strain on your vocal chords.
• Do not abuse your voice. If you are sick or injured vocally, (if it hurts) DON'T SING!

Coaching

Much can be accomplished at a rehearsal with no one else present. However, from time it can be helpful to call on a trusted coach or outside person to fine-tune your presentation. This is extremely helpful to the internal musical leader of the group as it takes the load off his/her shoulders for a while, and allows them to spend more time on their own performance responsibilities to the group.

Use Rehearsals Wisely

Use rehearsals for their intended purpose. Try to accomplish as much on your own, between rehearsals. Avoid using valuable rehearsal time to learn your notes and words and reserve rehearsals for fine-tuning the presentation.

Tools Of The Trade

• Water-Hydration is a must.
• Audio Recorders/Players-For critiquing performances, rehearsals and listening to learning tapes.
• Video Recorders-For critiquing your visual presentation.
• A Keyboard-To aid in music learning and correcting mistakes.
• A Pencil-For marking changes or reminders on your music.
• Your Music-For the first week or two anyway.

Know The Message Of The Song Before You Sing It

It is very easy when starting to learn a new song to just sing the notes and words. Some groups never make it beyond this level. To interpret a piece of music properly and spark the appropriate emotions in the performer and the audience, spend time determining the type of story the composer was trying to tell.

Recording Tips

This is certainly one area where you get what you pay for. Experiment with a variety of mics and microphone configurations to capture the sound you're looking for. Try to capture a sound that is representative of your group's capabilities. It is disappointing to hear a group sound one way on a CD and completely different in a live setting. This tends to happen when groups rely too much on individual mics for each voice and create an unreal sound and balance in the mix. Individual mics can help hide flaws, balance or execution problems, but the end result is not real.

The Engineer

Find an engineer with some experience recording vocals, hopefully a cappella vocals. Most will have a demo portfolio of previous projects and clients that you can review.

An Extra Set Of Ears

Have someone you trust sit in the control room with the engineer, someone who knows your capabilities. The engineer knows what his equipment is capable of capturing. You need someone else in the control room who knows your group's capabilities, someone who can say "that could be better" or "that's a keeper."

Evaluation Tapes

Record live performances and rehearsals to reveal areas/songs that need work, before going into the studio

Get It Right The First Time

Avoid the philosophy of "fixing it in the mix." It's better to get your performances down to tape right than to accept marginal performances and try to make them great in the mix-down process.

Heart

Expressing emotion and "heart" when you perform is equally, if not more important than the precise execution of the notes and words. Your audience will prefer and appreciate a performance with some slight flaws in it "with heart" over a musically perfect performance lacking emotion.

Effects

Record your tracks clean and add any effects later. Many groups try to hide performance imperfections with too much reverb.

Know When To Say 'When'

Every session has its peaks and valleys. Don't force it. You need to know when to call it a day, or when to keep working.

There have been many nights over the years when we did not save anything that was recorded. If you know you are capable of doing a song much better and it's just not happening that night/day, get out of there and get off the clock.

Your Approach

There are different ways to approach a recording. Some groups record three passes of each song and pick the best of the three, with minimal editing. Others tend to strive for the ever elusive "perfect" performance, though this desire for perfection can be expensive, frustrating and time consuming. Nonetheless, if you're half way through a song, and someone has a glitch or mistake, rather than trash a sterling performance of the front half and starting over, your engineer can punch in on the breath point prior to the glitch and allow you to proceed from there. Make sure that you maintain continuity between edits, things like distance from the microphone and the same level of intensity as what's already in the can. In many cases, you will put on headphones and sing into the punch point to let the engineer do his magic. Make sure he/she doesn't clip a breath on the punch.

Avoid Distractions

Recording sessions are not the kind of thing you want to invite a bunch of guests to observe. It can become boring to the guests and distracting to the performers.

Avoid The Ultimate Disappointment

Make backup copies of all recording sessions!

Smaller Is Sometimes Better

When you're monitoring your mix, listen to your playbacks at moderate levels on smaller speakers, like you would have in a car or on a boom box. Loud monitors will bring about ear fatigue and not be representative of how most people will listen to your music.

Be Prepared

• Don't waste time and money. Know your notes cold before you start rolling tape.
• Rehearse more songs than you plan to record, in case some never get to the level where you feel they should go to tape forever.
• Be physically and mentally prepared for each session. Start hydrating (drinking water) a few days before the session.
• Get plenty of sleep. If you're sick, postpone a session until you are well.
• Maintain your focus on the task at hand. If you voice is there but your mind is somewhere else, the results will never be as rewarding.
• Forget about being on time. Be early for any session. You will start paying for studio time whether you're there or not in most cases.
• Be comfortable. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.
• Take coins and keys out of your pockets and leave cell phones and pagers in the control room.

HAVE FUN!

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