Karen dives into the idea of booking a tour and the many aspects that come along with it. While working in various niches in the music industry, she is often asked how musicians get to the point where they can book a tour. Throughout the podcast, she mentions four crucial steps to ensure success when planning. While this can seem like a daunting process, she is sure to break down those walls and make booking a tour seem reasonable and doable.
Karen often stresses the importance of organization in everything she does. That being said, step one to booking a tour is creating a highly organized spreadsheet. This first spreadsheet will be for contact information. After creating a network and contact database that you will reach out to, you must report who you contact, when you contacted them, and when and if they reposed. Beyond your personal network research venues, bars, and schools in the area that host performances. It may be a tedious task to keep track of each thing but it will pay off in the end. Following your tour it will provide a list of reliable networking contacts that you reach out to again.
Following the networking spreadsheet is well… another spreadsheet! This second spreadsheet is for budget. You should not be focused on how you can profit or break the bank- you need to know how much money you are working with and how much money you need to request. Traveling, gas, mileage, and work pension should all be taken into consideration. Create an ideal budget, favorable budget, and a breaking even budget. Do not forget about the wiggle room as there are endless possibilities as to what could go wrong. The most important thing about booking a tour is to HAVE YOUR NUMBERS DOWN AND RELIABLE.
The third most important part of booking a tour is having an anchor location. While you might want to have sponsors, you can not count on them to provide the numbers that you were hoping for. This is where you can generate a bigger budget for the wiggle room. It is important to focus on your profit margin rather than the profit by itself. Booking a tour is truly a number game. Even when it comes to emails, the more the merrier as you may not hear back from everyone. Have an anchor location and build your tour around it.
Lastly, but surely not least- remember that following up is vital. Karen claims that it is statically proven that it takes 12 attempts to close a sale. It is not a fast process, but rather gradual uphill growth that happens over time. You have to remember that not every response will be positive. That being said, you must remain professional
