Wake Up Your Fans and Save Them Money!

Ok, so you’re following our tips and ticket selling strategies. But your fans are still procrastinating and not buying tickets.

Don’t worry. That is an easy problem to solve. After booking over 12,000 local shows, and being musicians ourselves, we’ve not only been in your position but we’ve also seen what thousands of our local acts are doing to get Fans to buy ASAP.

The sooner you sell advance Tickets to fans, the sooner their word-of-mouth promotion starts for you, to all of their friends. An advance Ticket sold 2, 3, or 4+ weeks before the show is way more valuable because it helps multiply your ticket sales when Fans commit to the show early on!

That is what Promo Codes are meant to help you with, driving early advance sales. It’s basically “early bird” pricing so fans buy tickets now and start spreading the word about the show they are now attending.

What’s the Hold Up?

The main reason fans aren’t buying yet is two-fold:
 1. They don’t understand how and why THEY benefit from buying asap.
 2. They don’t understand how and why it helps YOU that they buy asap.

Basically letting fans know the longer they wait to buy, the less their ticket sale helps you. And if they literally wait to pay at the door day of show, that does very little to help you (plus they’ll be way more likely to flake out on you and not show up)!

Try these out and let us know if this gets things moving!

Get Your Fans to Buy NOW!

The key is to explain to your fans how buying tickets right now helps you and them both. In all of your 1-on-1 communication to fans explain these key points. Text message, DM them on Facebook, email them, and also explain in person for the Fans you see throughout your week.

How Do Fans Benefit?

• They save money off the Door Price! Advance tickets are always cheaper than at the door.
• They save even MORE money if they buy now before your Promo Code expires.
• If they buy tickets ASAP, they ensure you get to perform as planned, that you get a locked in time slot ahead of time so you can tell them what time you’re actually going to play. Plus you can qualify for a longer set so they get to see you play longer.

How Does This Help You, The Artist?

Your fans WANT to help you. So this is also good incentive for them to understand how they not only save money but also help you. Their day of show door sales won’t help you nearly as much as an advance Ticket purchase.

• Ticket sales ensure you perform as planned
• Get a locked time slot far ahead of time
• Earn extra perks (www.myafton.com/promo) AND you get paid more (www.myafton.com/artistpay)
• Qualify for a longer set
• Get re-booked for more and more shows
• Make more money – way more money – when you hit our big pay jumps at 20 sold, 35 sold, 50 sold, 75 sold, and 100 sold!
• Prove to everyone else’s fans at the show that you are buzz-worthy and have a following

Once your friends and family and fans know the huge impact their advance Ticket sales make on you directly, they’ll be happy to save money and help!

So Now What?

Right now – text message, direct message on Facebook, AND email ALL friends and fans that each of your member’s have in their phone contacts, email contacts, and social media network. 20 tickets is a lot easier to sell if they are split up by member. If you have 2 people in your group or crew, that’s only 10 tickets each (or 5 fans if they buy pairs!)

Convey a sense of urgency with phrases like:

“I only need to sell XXX pairs of tickets to hit my goal, and I need to do it within the next 24 hours.”
Or, “I only need to sell X pairs of tickets to earn an extra $50 or $100.”
Or, “I only need to sell X pairs of tickets to lock in a prime time slot, then I can text you the exact time I go onstage.”
*Get creative here!

Explain directly in your 1-on-1 message to each fan that it’s getting down to the wire, your agreement with the Promoter & Venue on this show was that you’d get advance tickets sold, and you’re short of what you agreed to. Explain all of the things listed above on how they benefit, and you do too.

“It’s down to the wire, our show is (show date) and we are way short of the ticket sales we promised the Promoter and the venue. Can you go to this show? If so, please don’t wait to pay at the Door. Instead buy a Ticket right now in advance here: (Paste in your Online Ticket URL). You’ll SAVE MONEY plus help ensure I still get to perform and that I get booked again by this promoter! As a bonus, this Promo Code saves you $(amount) off Ticket price: (Your Promo Code Here). Thanks so much! I can also sell you a cash ticket before 5pm today if you meet up with me in person.”

Pair Up and Car Pool!

Always try to sell PAIRS instead of single tickets. You double your ticket sales and make an easy up-sell, since no one likes to go to shows alone.

Also remind fans if they have space in their car to carpool: Are only 2 people going? They have 2 empty seats for friends to carpool with them. Shows are way more fun with groups of friends!

Show True Appreciation to Your Fans!

Give your fans an INCENTIVE if they buy a pair of tickets TODAY. Take tips from Kickstarter. Think about EXPERIENCES rather than goods, so you don’t have to spend any money.

Like, if they buy a pair of tickets today, invite them to a practice or rehearsal, sit in on the studio when you record your next single/EP/album/etc. Give them a shoutout on stage, on social media as BIGGEST FANS. Let them come to the afterparty. Give them a credit on your upcoming album. Autographs! Take selfies with everyone who buys tickets and make them “superfans” and post online. Make them a part of your crew.

You can also offer them a free song download, a signed setlist, a picture with your group after the show, entry into a special contest, etc.

Make Your Fans Winners!

Use a “Contest” approach, and for every pair of tickets sold, they will be entered for a prize. It doesn’t have to be expensive or cost you anything…You could offer up an autographed setlist from the show for the grand prize.

This works. Your fans and friends WANT to help you. The only reason they haven’t bought advance Tickets yet is because they don’t understand how much it helps you to do so.

Think about it. If your fans just think “as long as I go it helps you” then they’re probably going to plan to pay at the door and 80% of “door sale promises” do not show up and change plans last minute. So it’s no surprise if fans are not buying yet. They just have to have a REASON to.

BEST STRATEGIES TO GET THOSE LAST MINUTE FANS TO COMMIT
https://myafton.com/blog/best-way-to-promote-your-music/

DOOR SALE “PROMISES” ALWAYS BAIL!
https://myafton.com/blog/relying-on-door-sales-always-screws-you/

12-STEPS TO BOOST TICKET SALES RIGHT NOW.
https://myafton.com/blog/how-to-sell-20-tickets/

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Network, Network, Network!

Here’s something we’ve learned after putting on about 12,000 local shows and being musicians ourselves.

EVERY ticket you’ve already sold can actually multiply easily into more ticket sales.

Here’s what I mean. Nobody likes to go to a show alone. If you have 1 person who bought a ticket, or even 2 friends who already bought tickets, there’s a huge potential there. You see, their network of friends can absolutely turn into more ticket sales.

Always Follow Up

Once you sell a fan a ticket, always remember to follow up after a week or so. Thank them for committing to come see you perform. Explain to them that you’re trying to draw more fans than you ever have for this show. They can help, by telling their friends about your act and how good you are, how fun the show they are going to will be, etc.

If two fans are driving to your show – they have 2 empty seats in their car to bring friends. Your fans WANT to help you. So if you explain it the right way, it really opens up their eyes to all the ways they can increase your show turnout.

Give Them a Reason

Also giving simple incentives works great. Tell them if they bring 1-2 friends you’ll buy them a drink, or you’ll dedicate a song onstage to them, or you’ll give them some free merch.

Whatever the incentive is, we both know they’d do it for free just to help you out. But that incentive sticks in their mind and helps them remember to execute on spreading the word about your music to their friends.

Here’s an example text message, direct Facebook message, and email you can send to Fans that already have a Ticket:

“I’m stoked you bought a ticket to my show! I’m making this one special. My goal is to draw more fans than I ever have before. You willing to help? Do you have any friends you can bring to the show? Any extra space in your car to bring along some people? They can buy online at (Your Online Ticket URL). If you can bring a few friends I’ll give you (Explain your incentive, song shoutout, free merch, buy them a beer, etc).”

We see so many artists turn their 15 or 25 ticket sales into another 10, 20, 30+ Ticket sales once they get the hang of this simple concept.

Hope that helps get your wheels turning, it’s all about being creative and utilizing your existing personal network to branch out.

The post How To Multiply Your Ticket Sales Fast! appeared first on Afton.

How much money can you make with Afton Shows?

One of the biggest questions we get from unsigned artists and musicians who sign up at Afton is “How much are you going to pay me?”.

It’s not only a reasonable question, it’s probably one of the most important questions any artist or band should ask when they are offered a show, especially in the early days. Assuming you haven’t reached the point of getting a specific guarantee (which is a great step for any band) we offer our own guarantee to artists and bands. Each artist we book is guaranteed to be paid according to this pay scale and their eContract no matter what, even if Afton loses money on the show. So this is way better than a traditional door split.

Afton Pay Scale for Unsigned Artist Shows:

In our experience, we’ve found that our pay scale is not only fair, but in many cases, more money than you would be getting paid to play a show you book yourself!

Take note of where the big payout increases are for a show. So many artists don’t understand where the pay jumps and they miss out on maximizing their payout!

You get the biggest pay jumps at 20 sold, 35 sold, 50 sold, 75 sold and 100 sold.

Example 1: Artist sold 15 Tickets.
Artist will make $35 extra with just 5 more ticket sales!

Example 2: Artist sold 24 Tickets.
Artist will make $50 extra with only 11 more ticket sales!

Example 3: Artist sold 40 Tickets.
Artist will make $100 extra with just 10 more tickets sales!

I hate to see any act fall short of the next big pay jump just because they weren’t aware of it. So make sure you and all members know how pay works. Because I want to help maximize your payout for your next Afton show!

A Personal Note

I was the vocalist of a fairly popular local band many years ago and we regularly brought in anywhere from 150-500 people per show. One of our turnouts brought about 400 people, with a $10 ticket price, I believe. At the end of the night, after we paid for the venue and the staff (sound tech, door person, lights, merch staff, bar staff), the marketing materials, the ad we put out in the local press, the three other bands on the bill and tipping everyone…we pulled in about $300 for our band

If that were an Afton show, we would have only needed to bring 75-99 fans to make that money, and if we had the same draw, our band would have made WAY more money than we made with the Afton pay scale! We also would have not had to worry about all of the hassle of finding the other bands, making sure they had their promotional material taken care of, making sure they had tickets to sell, doing all the press and promotion and paying and scheduling everything ourselves)

Can you DIY? Absolutely

In addition to my own experiences, I talk to a ton of musicians every day here at Afton. Most of my friends are musicians. I’ve asked for their thoughts on this kind of pay out, and they all agree, this pay scale is not only fair, but on the high side! Especially for a show they don’t have to book and pay for themselves.

Now, all this being said, if you can make more money elsewhere, then you absolutely should! Afton is always about choice. We are just an option for you to book shows with, we never claim to be the only route to go. But for any artist that thinks that Afton isn’t reasonably paying you, then you might want to check your numbers and ticket sales again. And honestly ask yourself this: Could I have made MORE money selling the same number of tickets I sold for an Afton show? I doubt it. But if I’m wrong, I’d love to hear about that deal in the comments below!

More Information

For more information on artist pay check out this link:
https://myafton.com/artistpay/

And remember, this pay out is on TOP of the extra Perks you earn along the way to help you get more tickets sold: https://myafton.com/perks/

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