Cover bands, how are you building your fan base?

[mstreck]

So, question here. If you meet "Jane" at a show, are you seeking her out on FB and initiating a friend request, or is she seeking out the band?

 

Everything I'm talking about is done through our personal pages - not "band" pages. It's not like we immediately friend request everyone that we meet. We get to know the people at shows and more often than not they friend request us. There are always some people who right out of the gate ask if we're on facebook and we say "sure - add me" but it's not like we're harvesting friends like you could do on myspace.

 

There are also the people who "like" the band page first. If they make a few comments on our page (or appear in quite a few of our facebook pics), one of us might send a friend request but we try to not be creepy about it. Like I said, it needs to be a genuine relationship. Amy's much better at it than the rest of us - maybe because she's a female????

 

I seem to have a huge disconnect with people liking my FB page. People always comment how great it was, how they appreciated me playing their request, etc. I can talk to them, give them a business card or sticker, but rarely does that turn into someone initiating a friend request or liking my FB music page.

Do you suggest your facebook page? Is it on the business cards/stickers? Also, and don't take this the wrong way, but are you making the conversation less about you and more about them? At the end of the conversation, how much do you know about them? Really get to know them. It may be easier for us because we're not in a densely populated area and we see the same people all the time.

 

On the other hand, I would think that Jane might not appreciate you hunting her down on FB and friend requesting her? Maybe I'm wrong here?

Usually people friend request one of us first. Besides, we usually ask. Unless she's really, really hot. Then we give her a t-shirt and then we ask.

[panthalassa]

make sure you have good sound and lights and dress the part.

That's so important! One of my bands has a wealthy Silicon Valley executive, and he went to Guitar Center one day and plunked down six hundred dollars on stage lights and a fog machine. Man, has that helped! And like others have stated, dressing the part and drawing out the party animal in the audience members does wonders.

Thanks for the tip on audience member photos. No one wants to see our mugs anyway.