Good topic, Glennf, though I disagree with Donny's assessment. When I was still working, I sent out colorful post cards to all of my ADs that were titled "15 Good Reasons To Celebrate" in which listed the names and dates of every holiday on the calendar for the year. This usually resulted in several dozen jobs, often added jobs to locations where I performed regularly.

Next, at a dozen or more locations, we had a monthly birthday bash, often held in the evening right after supper from 7 till 8 p.m.. Another dozen or more jobs on the books. It was rare to see young folks at these events, and if there were some youngsters, the few that attended chimed in when we all sang Happy Birthday as a sing along.

Every year or so, politicians had to raise cash for the reelections. This translates into evening jobs at dozens of locations throughout your area, all of which usually had some live music. The trick here was to find out who the contact person was, which usually involved some telephone calls to the party's central committees. Then it was a matter of setting up a meeting and providing the campaign manager with a quality CD and good promo package. This usually amounted to another 50 jobs for me on election years. I charged $500 for these election fund raiser parties, which often took place in a ballroom. Ironically, I usually played less than an hour because the wannabe politicians were constantly onstage promoting themselves with lengthy political speeches. Always got lots of attaboys from the campaign manager, and some of the politicians in attendance frequently asked for cards and if I would be willing to play at their fund raisers.

To this, you can add private parties held at local restaurant banquet rooms. I promoted these by visiting the restaurants and talking with the owner/manager and providing them with a quality promo package including a CD. The promo package usually included a photo sheet that featured these type of parties. Promo photos go a long way in booking private parties, including something as small as a living room party.

As you can plainly see, the secret to success is to be a good PR person, Salesman and of course, be able to provide high quality, diverse, musical entertainment program to your clients. This will usually result in repeat bookings from the same folks, and possibly bookings from those in attendance of the event.

Good luck,

Gary