On Sunday I went to a 2-hour workshop “Communications for Independent Musicians” taught by Lisa Mezzacappa, Bay Area bassist/bandleader and arts organizer. This was on the first day of the Outsound New Music Summit.

It was the best marketing workshop I have ever attended. I have written about, and taught, business marketing classes for over 20 years. Also, I have attended many workshops on business topics.

Most marketing workshops go over way too much material, not all of it relevant to attendees. Lisa selected two specific topics: musician and band/group bios. It was for improv/experimental musicians, which also really helped focus the workship.

She focused on the basis of any business – what are you about? Why would someone book you? Why would anyone contact you to perform with their group? Describe yourself and your group in 100 words or less.

First Lisa went over sample bios for local musicans, then one person volunteered to have his bio done. Lisa and the attendees contributed ideas. Then, she did the same for a band/group bio.

She kept the workshop on track and ended on time. No attendee “speeches” about their life stories, etc. I like that.

On Sunday, August 4 from 2-4 p.m., she will have a Free workship for Independent Musican at the Center for New Music in San Francisco. Info at http://centerfornewmusic.com/calendar/

When writing up this story, where did I get her bio? From the Outsound Music Festival’s page at http://outsound.org/summit/13/schedule_details13.html ! I am a business writer and really hate it when I can’t find a bio, or have to rewrite it. Where did I get her foto? From the same place.

If I wanted to write about your group, where would I find your bio that is ready to go and needs no editing, and a good foto?

Several attendees mentioned that no one went to their web sites. Another mentioned keywords, meta tags, etc. One of the best ways to get listed near the top of a google search is to regularly have new content. I set up my band page a few weeks ago, using wordpress. I set it up as a band page, but I could also blog. I realized that I could write about any topic. Blogs are very “loose” as compared with traditional writing.

Instead of posting only on Facebook, I  first wrote this post on my blog at http://www.earspraymusic.com and then “shared” it on Facebook. Instead of subscribing to an email mailing list, a real hassle to manage, I can encourage readers to “follow” my band blog.

If you go to my blog, you can see my old bios. If you subscribe to my blog, you can see my greatly improved bios when they are posted!!

Some music topics you could write about: performances you’ve attended, a new music “toy” you just got, a youtube video, a soundcloud song, what you’re doing in your music, etc. I’m working on adding video to our performances. My first post was about that. Or, you could post more personal info, such as what is usually posted on Facebook.

I made a commitment to post something at least once a week.

Just Do It!!!