I was listening to NPR the other day when they did a report on tipping in the restaurant industry. One they had a list of tips on how wait staff can increase their tips.

That got me brainstorming and surfing the net for other ideas to boost tips. That combined with lots of performances at Renaissance Festivals helped me to develop my own list of ways musicians can improve their tips.

1. Introduce yourself by name

Too often musicians forget to introduce themselves on stage. Make sure you tell the audience your band name, but to really boost your tips, you should also introduce yourselves individually. Let people know who you are as an individual and you’ll see greater tips.

2. Go out into the audience with a tip jar

You really can’t be passive when it comes to getting tips. You have to walk out into the audience with some visual reference that says Tip Me!, and they will tip you.

3. Meet your audience at their level

Take the time to talk to your audience members at their level. Holding a discussion from a stage puts a wall between you and them. So instead, go out into the audience and talk to them face to face. Kneel if they’re at a table, so you’re at eye level. And if you have ayour tip jar with you, you will you will not only gain a fan, but you will also improve your tips.

4. Make your appearance personal

We wear kilts to most of our gigs. A kilt adds a very personal touch It links us to a certain culture and makes people take notice. Course you don’t have to go that route, instead find some piece of clothing that reflects your personality and you will boost your tips.

5. Recommend your favorite CD

If you have multiple CDs, your audience will always ask for your favorite. Tell them what it is. If you only have one, you can do the same by recommending other artists that you like. That adds a two-fold advantage of helping your audience find music they like and helping your fellow musicians.

6. Smile

A bright, confident smile will bring fans back again and again with lots o’big tips.

7. Involve your audience in the music with a joke or game

Next time you’re up on stage, see what happens when you joke around with the audience. Your personality will glow all the more and so will your tips.

8. Chat with fans by name

Music fans love nothing more than to be recognized by the bands they love. So do your best to remember their names. They will feel that much more attached to your music and feel like your friend. And these friends will tip you better for the courtesy.

9. Touch your audience

When you’re out socializing with your audience, touch them (in a non-sexual way). Whether you shake their hand, pat them on the shoulder or back, or just brush against them, wait staff find that that even that will boost their tips 50%. And it will yours too.

10. Use tip jars with the VISA/Mastercard Logo

According to studies done in restaurants, just seeing those logos is enough to encourage customers to tip more. I know it sounds crazy, but give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results.

11. Give your audience something in return for their tip

People love feeling like they’re getting their money’s worth. And many people don’t realize you should tip bands. So give something in return. It could be something as big as a sticker or magnet, or as simple as a business card that might include a $1 off your CDs. Or hey what about feeding their sweet tooth with a piece of candy. Whatever the case, that little gift will mean big tipping results.

12. Draw a picture

On a similar note, if you give them a business card, draw or make a comment on it. That piece will be more valuable to them and will result in bigger tips.

13. Make tipping a part of the show

Why wait until the end of the set to ask for tips. Sing a song about tipping, or get your audience involved in the tipping process by shouting something. Or offer a prize to the first tipper. But integrate it into your show and it won’t seem like you’re just begging for money, rather you’re making it fun to tip.

14. Thank your audience

No gig would be complete without an audience. So thank them for taking the time to watch you perform. They will feel the personal touch and respond when you ask for money.

15. Bonus Tipping Suggestion:

If the change is five dollars, never return a five-dollar bill. Always give back five ones. This allows the customer to tip you with some of the dollar bills you returned. You will rarely get a $5 tip and returning a $5 bill will turn off tippers. In general, it’s good to return all ones if the change is less than $8. You want the customer to have at least two ones so they can give it back as the tip.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

More articles at database for articles

When Clear Channel controls the radio and the monopoly newspaper doesn’t like you, how do you win over new audiences?

The good news: there are many, many ways. Here are ten of my favorites.

1. Approach a local college or alternative radio station or community access cable TV station with a programming idea, like a live songwriter showcase. Other musicians will want to be a part of your show, and you’ll build an audience for your own music–and theirs.

2. Write CD or concert reviews for a local alternative (or mainstream) paper.

3. Give copies of your CD away to public radio and TV stations for their fund drive premiums.

4. Organize, publicize, and perform at charity events for your favorite causes.

5. Lead songwriting or performing workshops in the schools (these are usually paying gigs, and all the parents hear your name). Invite some of the kids to perform with you; they’re sure to bring a bunch of relatives along who will pay for their tickets and maybe buy a CD.

6. Announce your gigs in every community calendar. Newspapers, magazines, radio stations, community web sites, cable TV stations–they all run event listings. Type out one paragraph that includes a tag line about what you do, such as Sandy Songwriter, River City’s ‘Homegrown Bono,’ will perform labor songs and love ballads at The Trombone Shop, 444 4th Street in Downtown River City, Wednesday, January 15, 7 p.m. If admission is free or there’s a charity connection, say so. Include contact phone number and e-mail.

7. Find Internet discussion groups related to your cause. Whether it’s immigration, voting reform, peace, safe energy, the right to choose…there will be discussion groups online. Post responses and include a sig–a short on-line business card. Use different sigs for different purposes. Here’s one of mine (in a real e-mail, it would be single-spaced):

Shel Horowitz, mailto:shel@frugalfun.com, 800-683-WORD/413-586-2388

I make the world INSIST on learning why YOU’RE special

News releases, brochures, newsletters, ad copy, web copy, resumes, etc.

http://www.frugalmarketing.com * http://www.principledprofits.com

8. Set up a simple low-cost website. Include a couple of sound clips, pictures of you performing, a place for people to sign up for your fan newsletter, a link to your favorite musicians, and, of course, your tour schedule and gig availability.

9. Get exposure on other people’s websites. Write CD reviews, endorse their music with a blurb, submit articles on the local music scene…and always include your contact information and a statement that encourages people to visit your site.

10. Use the letters columns. Call in to talk shows. Post messages to Web forums…in short, use every feedback tool you have to spread the word.

Copywriter, marketing consultant, and speaker Shel Horowitz is the author of six books and publisher of five websites, five webzines and three ezines. His two most recent, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First (http://www.principledprofits.com) and Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World (http://www.frugalmarketing.com) have both won awards. He’s currently engaged in a campaign to get 25,000 people to sign–and spread–the Business Ethics Pledge: http://www.principledprofits.com/25000influencers.html

More articles at www.articles-host.com

One of the Brobdingnagian Bards’ early CDs, Songs of the Muse is going into it’s second pressing. When I saw Christopher Knab’s article Your CD Cover is Your Best Ad For Your Music, I decided this was the perfect inspiration I needed to update the CD graphics.

I’ve been a fan of Christopher Knab for about as long as I’ve been a fan of Bob Baker. He is without a doubt one of the top Top 10 music marketers in my book.

Well, whenever I create graphics, I find too often that I forget a bunch of stuff. So this article serves as a great checklist. But when I read Seth Godin’s Best-Selling book, Free Prize Inside, I realized that it was NOT a complete list!

In fact, the music industry in general has greatly missed out on an amazing opportunity to better sell CDs.

The idea I got came from the backs of books. Go grab a best-seller and turn it over. On the back, you will find the secret…

What did you find? You might’ve seen testimonials, a brief description of the book, or maybe even an exerpt.

You see, one of the problems I found with Songs of the Muse is that since we call our music Celtic music. It wasn’t till much later that I realized that in the Celtic music tradition, songs have lyrics and tunes are instrumentals. This album is all instrumental. So it was poorly named for the Celtic music world.

But if we use the back cover correctly, it doesn’t matter!

The new back cover now lists songs titles along with a brief description of the ideal person who will enjoy this CD. It includes testimonials. And anyone who reads it will have all doubt removed as to if this is a vocal or instrumental CD.

Use Christopher Knab’s checklist for a better CD graphics. Then think outside the box. What can you add to the cover that will make this CD sell better than ever?

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

More articles at database for articles

I was walking on campus today back from our weekly gig at the University of Texas’ South Mall, when I heard a member of the Young Conservatives of Texas speak. March 2nd is Texas Independence Day and so this fellow was preaching that if you work hard and play by the rules you too can lead a good life.

Maybe it’s the skeptic in me, but it made me think, What a bunch of crock! Most people, including most musicians, work hard and play by the rules, but did you know that Americans carry, on average, $5,800 in credit card debt from month to month. Well I ask you, what kind of life is that when a huge majority of country is in unprofitable debt?

But I’ve been reading books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad recently, in an attempt to learn music business and finance skills from people who make millions. Do they follow the rules? Yes…sorta.

The questions that came to me as I walked by the Young Conservatives were, Who makes the rules? and Are we following the Right rules?

That’s really the key that many successful business people learn. It’s not a matter of are you following the rules. It’s are you following the Right rules?

You see, our community is filled with rules on what you can’t do, but there are also tons of rules that say what you can do, but most people don’t know what they are.

Taxes are a great example. The average musician might not deduct things like car travel to and from gigs, or the cost of their picks, because they may not know that they can.

The same goes with promotion. Just because you’re on MP3.com and get a dozen emails from other musicians in a form letter saying, play my song, does not mean that you should put together your own form letter and spam thousands of musicians.

Or just because most musicians do their best to attract the attention of a Major label A&R or even the President, does not mean you shouldn’t schmooze with the secretary.

The point is know the rules, but then look beyond them. The rules are a guide. They are not etched in stone. Break the rules. Do what others are NOT doing and you will do a better of job standing out in the crowd.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

More articles at Big articles database

For startup musicians, email is a gift of God. When I first started managing bands a number of years ago, I spent hours licking stamps and sending out postcards for upcoming gigs, spending over $100 on people that never showed up to my bands’ gigs. We didn’t even make that much at the gig, and we were blowing money left and right.

Don’t get me wrong. For a band that sticks around, $100 for one fan is worth it, in my opinion, because that fan will be tell friends, buy CDs, and more, but there is a cheaper alternative. Start your own band ezine.

If you don’t already have one, I strongly urge you to head over to eGroups.com and setup your own newsletter. If you haven’t already, start collecting addresses today. Don’t use this as an excuse not to pick up snail mail, mind you. In the next few weeks we’ll talk about how to get the most out of your email and snail mail addresses.

GETTING YOUR LIST STARTED

1. Send Invites to all of your friends, ASK them if they want would like to get your fan news.
2. Specify how often you intend to mail out your ezine (weekly, twice monthly, monthly).
3. Provide info your fans would consider interesting (tidbits about the band, bands you like, favorite recipes).
4. Provide an easy way automatically unsubscribe.
5. Add a Subscribe to My Newsletter link on your homepage.

VERY IMPORTANT DON’TS

DON’T auto-subscribe people from other mailing lists, even if they May like you. (This includes the Media)

BETTER: E-mail them. Include their name in the message, and ASK if they would be interested in subscribing.

DON’T send out an email before Every gig. Especially if you start getting a lot, you will only end up allienating fans. Stick to the schedule.

DON’T make your newsletter filled to the brim in formality.It’s got to breathe. People want newsletters that are personal, so talk to ‘em.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

More articles at Articles on database

You have to find radio airplay time if youre going to be heard and were not just talking the local college campus. The trick is called promotion. Now that doesnt mean you just put your press kit in an envelope with a demo and hope they take pity on you. Perhaps you call a station and they give you the standard pitch of, Send it and if we like it well put you in rotation. After a few months of never hearing your music, you automatically think youre not worthy.

First, dont buy that. Youre one of hundreds, maybe even thousands depending on your city. Your disc will probably end up in the trash or, for more enterprising DJ’s, on Ebay in a one-cent CD sale. If you want to be heard and make potential sales, you have to stand out from the crowd, and in this jewel of an article, Ill show you Five(5) Knock em Dead Ways to Do Just That!:

#1 – Get your CD into the right hands. The intern thats too busy to getting coffee or typing up a report for the station manager isnt going to be the one making the airplay decision. So find out who the head honcho is in that department and touch base with them. If the club youre playing at charges an admission or you have a show coming up offer to send the stations tickets to give away to listeners. Now keep in mind you cant give the tickets to the staff, since thats illegal and called payola, but you can offer free giveaway items to your potential audience.

#2 – If youve got one station in your pocket, then drop names. Let them know that WABC is playing your music and its getting a great response.

#3 – Make genuine friends in the business. If youve got a disc jockey thats got you in rotation and really likes your sound, get to know them. Find out why they enjoy it and see if theyve gotten any responses from listeners. If they havent, ask if perhaps they might Q & A their callers about your music so you get a feel for your target audience. Its not a bad idea to ask them for a testimonial or quote if theyre well known in your area if you know them personally. People help people. Thats a fact so if you treat your area disc jockeys like a living and breathing human and not dollar signs, thats a foot in the door. Another good source is club owners. If they play your music and the fans go nuts ask them to say a few words about your sound that you can pass along to prospective stations, but be sure to sit down for a drink with them. Ask them about the picture of him and the woman and two kids behind the Magic Kingdom. Dont be fake, but be genuinely interested.

#4 – Network. Find out if someone you know (or someone they know) has connections to the music stations. Remember six degrees of separation – youre only six people away from knowing anyone on the planet and yes that includes station managers, concert promoters and record execs. The trick is it takes a great deal of work and time, but if youre serious, its well worth it.

#5 – Go local, state, national. Dont think youre going to skip your local and state stations and be the next Matchbox Twenty. It doesnt work that way. Start small and then get big.

Making contacts and getting names can be tough, thats why you should start with a tested and proven music industry resource like The Industry Yellow Pages – Music Industry Contact Directory at http://www.TheIndustryYellowPages.com

The TIYP is helpful and loaded with contacts you can start using immediately without doing all the legwork yourself.

This article was written by Ty Cohen, the music industry’s most recognizable voice! Ty is the C.E.O of Platinum Millennium Publishing, Platinum Millennium Records as well as owner of http://www.MusicContracts101.com and http://www.MusicIndustrySuccess.com .

Some of his work includes: books, directories, mini-courses and software programs including the titles: How to Make a Fortune in the Music Industry by Doing it Yourself and How to Make $500,000.00 or More A Year in the Music Industry by Doing it Yourself.

To find out more about Ty Cohen, his services, products and how he may be able to help you succeed in the music industry go to http://www.MusicIndustrySuccess.com and sign up for his free limited edition music industry success 10-part Mini-Course, it will work wonders for you and best of all, its FREE, but EXTREMELY VALUABLE!

More articles at www.articles-host.com