It isn’t easy to make decent money as a musician. It might not even be possible unless you treat your band as the business it is, and do whatever you can to help your audience feel like they know you. Whether your band is just starting out, or whether you’ve been playing shows for years, there are ways to turn your art into a profitable lifestyle. Maybe you feel you can’t live without writing and playing your music. Well, you need to convince your fan base that they can’t live without you writing and playing your music either.

There are three basic strategies that will help make your band into a phenomenon that will one day pay the bills. You need to develop and polish your stage show, offer products that your fans will love, and make a steady, consistent effort to promote your band and keep your fans up to date with all of your goings on.

Live Shows

Your shows are probably where you, as a musician, have the most fun. Nothing can compare to looking out over a crowd that knows all the words to your songs. But satisfaction doesn’t make ends meet, so you need to use your shows not only as the giant group hug they are, but also as an opportunity for your fans to get their hands on some amazing merchandise tied in with your band.

The first step is to make sure your band gives live performances that turn the fans on. You can’t do this by simply booking a venue, showing up, and playing your set list. You need to win the crowd over with each and every show, reminding your fans why they like you so much. And a polished, well rehearsed show is the first step.

In the theatre that is your band’s live performance, every band member plays a different character, whether they want to or not. You need to make these characters relate to the people in the audience. That way, your fans feel like they are getting to know you as you perform. And though it sounds shallow, your band needs to have its most attractive member front and center. This isn’t always practical. If your drummer is your band’s most attractive member, at least make sure that he or she is well lit and not blocked by the other band members.

Take a look at everything that goes into one of your shows. Do you have a decent backdrop? Are you selling CDs and merchandise from a wobbly card table manned by the bassist’s little brother, or do you have a solidly built sales booth “branded” with your band’s persona? Are you selling the same t-shirts and CDs that you sold a year ago, or are you keeping the promotional merchandise fresh? And that brings us to the next topic.

Your Band’s Merchandise

You’ll want to mention your band’s website during the show, and you should also have your band’s web address printed on the merchandise that you sell. Giving away stickers with your band’s logo and web address is a great promotional technique. Sure, those stickers cost you money, but if it puts hundreds of eyeballs in front of your website ordering your new CD, then it is a worthwhile investment.

If you plan to sell t-shirts, offer a good quality product. It is worth the investment to have a talented graphic designer design your shirts for you. This doesn’t mean you have to shell out big money to hire a big name designer. You can often find local talent through sites like Craigslist. If money is tight, you could barter with the designer you want for, say a t-shirt design in exchange for a handful of tickets to your show, a mention of his or her name during the show, and a few CDs. You should price the t-shirts so that you cover production costs, and have a small profit. You can also gin up some serious goodwill by giving away two or three t-shirts to fans during your show.

Promoting Your Band

This is something you do consistently, just like rehearsing. Give fans who visit your band’s website or its MySpace page something new every week, or every few days if you can manage it. If none of the band members has much interest in or talent for keeping up a blog, you may want to hire a blogger to do this for you. Again, “hire” may mean “barter for.” But a good, consistent blogger will keep fans returning to your sites, building anticipation for your next show and/or album.

With regard to your website, there is one very important factor that it would be easy to overlook. Create a domain name that is easy to spell and that isn’t full of hyphens or underlines. Ideally you want your website’s domain to be easy enough for anyone to remember, so that they can find your site easily the first time. If you have a good website or blog that is updated regularly, your fans will want to bookmark it and return regularly.

Create a simple press kit and send it to local media outlets. Lifestyles editors love getting well made press materials because it does part of their job for them. Write a brief cover letter describing your band. Include a demo CD containing your best song as the first track. Also include a band photo.

You don’t have to hire an expensive photographer for this. You’ll need digital photos that will print at a size of around 5” by 7” at 200 to 300 dpi and that shows each band member’s face. The setting should reflect the image you want your band to have. Whether you hire a local photographer or set up a tripod and do it yourself, take at least a dozen shots to maximize your chances of getting that iconic picture that makes you say, “Yeah, that’s us!” Simple online programs like Picasa, and tools in photo sharing sites like PhotoBucket can be used to enhance lighting and clarity and crop out clutter.

If you’re new and relatively unknown, go ahead and do the “cheesy” shows every chance you get. This means weddings and proms. If you have a few of these on your resume, local venues will believe that you can draw in fans. They’ll be less likely to book you hoping to turn a profit with cover charges and drinks if they don’t think you’ll bring in an audience. Once you have a few weddings, bar mitzvahs, and school dances under your belt, you can honestly tell a venue owner that you have played before groups of 50 or 100, or whatever it was. This will give you room to negotiate when asking for a cut of the cover charge.

Conclusion

While making music is something you do from the heart, that doesn’t mean it can’t generate income too. Making money with your band doesn’t just happen spontaneously. You will have to treat your band as a business entity and use the tools you have available to advertise that business. You can’t do this haphazardly and hope to become rich and famous. Rather, you have to put some serious effort into making your fans anticipate your shows, offering fans merchandise that they love, and promoting your band in the print press, in person, and over the Internet.

Don’t give up! It won’t necessarily be easy, but the first time your band gets a check big enough to cover the rent will be a sweet memory that will make all the work worthwhile.