Surprisingly most entertainers just starting out fail to do the most basic things to help get their own fan base going. What do I mean? Not everything is about Social Media. Actually meeting the people builds a connection far better than a web page or a blog could ever do.
If you have an event make yourself available to the people who came to see you perform. After the show go out to the fans shake hands. They are interested in you! They do want to connect with you! They do want to meet you! Thinking they don’t is just your insecurity coming to the foreground. They took the time to come out, they may have spent money of course they want to talk with and meet you. Make yourself available for them to do so. If you can, have something you can give them to make that emotional connection, something with your info on it for twitter or your website preferably both. Even better some merchandise it doesn’t need to be expensive but it does need to come from you. Key chains and stickers are good choices for this. Let them know you have an upcoming show or event be specific on when and where and give them a card with your info in it so they can find more for themselves. Now they can bring friends to your show and enjoy it all together. Ask what they thought and THANK them for coming to see you!
What do you get out of all this interaction? Well that is simple. You get a fan is what you end up getting. That is what this is all about right? Fans help you get yourself out there without you having to do all of the heavy lifting. They will help spread the word about whatever it is you are doing with your career. The only cost to you is some time spent meeting people who admire you, these people are worth their weight in gold invest in the relationships. Come on you know you want a fan, who doesn’t? That fan could go to your website, they could follow you on twitter, tell their friends about what a great time they had at the show. Their friends could come next time who will in turn bring more people to see your act. On and On it goes. All of that for simply stepping outside of your own comfort zone and reaching out to people who are already reaching out to you. Make that first step to reach out to them.
Next time your doing a show or an event, bring some nice professional business cards the cost is minimal compared to the benefit of your name getting out there. There are local places in your area that can make you some amazing business cards that incorporate digital art and designs. Go beyond the normal white card and text it doesn’t stand out. Some nicely thought out merchandise is a worth while investment as well. As we said before Key chains and stickers are inexpensive and easy to obtain.It doesn’t need to be an expensive thing you hand out, it does need to be eye catching or thought provoking. Market yourself, network yourself, believe in yourself and reality might just hit you between the eyes.