The Vocal Coach - Mar 2004, Monthly ArticlesThe Vocal Coac

Feb

2004

The Vocal Coach - Mar 2004

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Last month we began our series on booking our concerts and we are going to continue this month. Our topic will be how to get contacts to call. I had planned on covering a couple of other subjects but we will save them for next month. The topic on getting you contacts needs to be covered in depth so let us begin.

How do we get contacts to call? The answer to that question is anywhere you can. Here are some ideas that may help you get started. Of course the obvious place to start is where you have sang in the past. Always keep a record of those places, with the contact name, address, telephone numbers, and a comment on how the service went and how the offering was as far as meeting your needs and product sells. If it is some place you do not wish to return make a note and the reason. After you sing at so many churches you can forget and good notes will help you when you are booking later.

You can get names of churches from family members, friends, or coworkers.

Ask them if their church has concerts or would they be willing to let you come and do a concert for them. Get the name of the person to contact from them and make the call your self. Don’t make them responsible for contacting the person because they may not remember to do it. Ask them if it is all right to use their name when calling the person as a point of reference. This will make cold calling easier if you can connect with this person through a mutual acquaintance.

The next place you can look for contacts is the publications. The concert lists will make available to you the names of churches that have concerts. You can then go on line and get the church information.

I want to say something right here that is very important. Make sure that you or your group is ready for some of the larger churches before you call them. They are accustomed to quality music and you have to measure up to that standard to be invited to come for a concert. I know that everyone thinks that their group is the best out there but do your homework to be sure. Get vocal help and stage performance training before you try to get in the market with the groups that have that training already. It will save you embarrassment, time, and money in the long run. Another idea is to have someone critique your stage wardrobe. Some of the clothes that I see worn on stage sometimes are unbelievable. What one person in your group wears can make or break your group. You may be invited to sing one time and not get asked back. We want long term relationships with churches so that we can call them when we are going to be in the area and need a place to sing. We want them to be excited to have us do a concert for them.

Another place that you can get church names and addresses is a church directory. You can call the home office or area office for some of the churches and they will send you a directory. Sometimes you will have to let a person in the church get you one because they will only give them to a member of that denomination. The only problem with this is you do not know which churches have concerts but it will give you a place to start if you are looking for a church in a certain area. They may not have concerts but they may give a name of a church that does have them.

Make friends of everyone you call. They may not have had concerts in the past but you never know when God will use you to impress them to try it one time. Suggest to them that you send them a packet of information about your ministry. If they get to know a little about you and like your music you could be the first to walk through that door of opportunity. Make it a good experience for them if you do get to do a concert and you will get invited back. Every new door that is opened not only helps you but other ministries, too. Everyone benefits from another new venue.

Many churches do not have concert any longer because they have had very bad experiences with some groups in the past and have stopped having outside groups. I have heard of groups not showing up or calling to let the church know they were not coming and they had a church full of people waiting for a concert that had been advertised. Be responsible and keep those dates.
Even if you are a weekend group that goes for a love offering. You can make it bad for all ministries that are trying to book dates if you were the reason a church stopped having groups in for concerts. What we do effects everyone. Be responsible!

Next month we will talk about the packets of information and planning a tour.

When you or your group is ready to spend sometime on getting those vocal problems worked out and learn good stage performance techniques and even talk about wardrobe give me a call. Fine tuning your music ministry could make a difference on the places you get invited to sing. The professional way is the best way to be able to move up to the next level. But you must first know how to apply those skills to get results. Give me a call at (615) 886-7082 or email me at, martiled@excite.com for times and dates that are available for you to come to Nashville to work on those skills.

Until next month, remember to keep singing His praises!

Reader Comments

I enjoy your articles very very much! One question that popped in my head was...how do you turn down a booking.(in the case of a church that just didn't "meet your needs") Keep up the wonderful articles!!

Commented by On 03/01/2004

I enjoyed your article this month! It was very opening to me. I am a new artist who is just starting out in my local area so your tips were very helpful!
God Bless you!
Lester Steedley

Commented by On 03/02/2004

Steven,
That is a good question. But remember to always be honest with everyone. With love tell them, "That you enjoyed being with them last time but that you were not able to cover your expense and that you have to be able to cover your expenses. God is not pleased with people that do not pay their bills on time and you want to be a good stewart." They may ask what you would need to cover your expense and be ready with an amount and tell them. If they can NOT meet that let them know that you understand. And tell them that you hope they understand your position. ( They may not because many churches think that when you work for the Lord you are suppose to do it for nothing.) But the Bible says,"That a man is worthy of His hire." We deliever the message of God just like the pastor and how many of them work for nothing. Their families would be pretty hungry if he did that and so would ours. Now that is not to say that if God tells you to go for nothing then you better do it. But make sure that it is God and He will bless you for it. But it is okay to expect to be paid for your work. God said so!

Commented by On 03/04/2004

I am Nazarene and I got a
directory of all our churches. When I call I tell them which church I'm a member of so we get to sing in quite a few of our churches . Of course they still want some information about our group, but it works.

Commented by On 03/05/2004

Marti, that's a good point about critiquing wardrobe, however, is there a difference between what a group should wear at a concert and at a church?

Commented by On 03/26/2004

There really is not a difference. We should always look our best when we are ministering. Our reaching our audience they say is about 90% visual and 10% everything else. Especially when it is our first time to in a new area. I beleive that it is better to be over dressed than under dressed. Always play it safe and dress your best.

Commented by On 03/30/2004

I sing professionally with a national known quartet. In my experiences with contacts the deal with a church directory works really well of churches in any denomination. Like getting a directory of all churches in the southern baptist churches for all of United States for an example. Also for any one travel out of your local area, let's say you are gonna be in Atlanta,Ga. and you only have a sunday night booking there. What I do is get YellowPages of that city and surrounding cities and tell different churches in that area that we are singing at such and such church there in Atlanta,Ga for an example, and tell them that we have that morning available and see if they would like to reserve that slot for them. Make them feel that they are important on your list. And they should be. They are paying your bills.
Plan to contact these people at least a month in advance if you possibly can. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
and always remember WHO U REPRESENT !( JESUS CHRIST) GOD BLESS.

Commented by On 01/12/2005

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