Are you spending too much time with other trumpeters?
You could be.
Especially if you are focusing most of your networking energy talking to your competition (I know, I said the C-word) and not your potential customers.
Don't get me wrong. A lot of gigs can come to you as a result of having positive relationships with other trumpet players. In fact, just last week I was offered a gig to play at a party and got an invitation to play in a band that performs in Santa Fe. Both of those opportunities came from trumpet playing friends.
But rather than sharing a piece of pie with your friend, there is a lot you can be doing to make your own pie. And the secret to tapping in to a hidden jet-stream of jobs is to start networking in places where you are the only trumpeter.
Here's an example. I recently went to a B2B Expo in Albuquerque. For those of you who don't know, B2B stands for business to business and I was there to tell people about my copywriting business.
I couldn't help but notice that nobody was making offers to play music. But there were a lot of venues like hotels and restaurants.
Back at the ranch I sifted though my business cards, sending emails to the people I talked to and adding them to my monster spreadsheet of business contacts. The list represents business owners that I have met and gotten to know over the years. Some I know better than others.
How easy would it be to send a postcard to all of them with a simple offer to provide music at their next office party or event?
I encourage you to develop your own list of business contacts. You can meet these people at Chamber of Commerce meetings, networking events, seminars, and Expos like the one that I just went to.
When you're looking for events where you are meeting people who might hire you, get specific. If you love playing at weddings, go to wedding expos. Do whatever you can to meet the brides, but also talk to the people who are planning weddings and the people who own hotels and other venues. They can give you referrals.
Don't just join music organizations. Find out about organizations that cater to the people who will hire you. If you play for churches, go to religious conferences. If you play in bars and restaurants, go to hospitality conventions.
Trumpet players can help you, and you need their support. But if you want to open up some possibilities for prospecting, get away from the trumpet crowd.
If you want specific help with this, I can help you make a simple mailing that can go out to a specific target audience in your area, like hotel owners, business owners, wedding planners, bar owners or clergy.
Give me a call at 505-515-7001 to get this set up. I can even create the mailing list that you can use.
