Some of the advice by Russ should be etched in stone--it just makes good business sense, especially when you have more than one business to run, which Russ does on a daily basis.

In my case, I usually book about a dozen corporate parties a year. Most are repeat business and more often than not they book a year in advance. I perform for their annual banquets, awards ceremonies and similar events.

Like Russ, I send out a Christmas card every year. The difference is my card is personalized, and most years it includes my latest CD, which I'm told is played until the label wears out.

Many of my corporate accounts came from two locations--performing at political fund raisers and performing at Shriners meetings, both of which I charge my normal rate. (No rubber chicken dinners for me, but they do offer them. UGH!) Keep in mind that most of the individuals attending political fund raisers are corporate owners who contribute heavily to politicians in order to prevent their business from being legislated to death. The Shriners to great work, especially for kids, and much of their membership consists of heads of corporations--folks who put some big parties together every year.

I don't play free for charities. In this part of the world if you played free for charities you would not have time to make a living. I charge the charities the same rate as I charge anyone else, and by and large most of the major charities book me regularly for their fund raisers. Keep in mind, though, most charities are major corporations--they just claim to be non-profit.

I'm a proponent of self promotion. It can be via business cards, CDs, fliers, promotional packages, direct mail advertising, you name it--it all works, and it works very well. It's not expensive, takes very little time and very effective. Of course, there is one major component that we must have in order to make the package complete--TALENT. Once your foot is in the door, if you provide what the client wants, then you'll get those repeat, corporate bookings.

Cheers,

Gary