Karaoke Forums

Do you guys do much promotion through MySpace and YouTube and Facebook and other networking sites to generate hits to your own website or is the personal website just a booking resource that you ssend clients and you following to for reference as to where you will be and so on?  I think for most musicians most bookings come from MySpace musicians pages.  Club owners and venue managers tend to use the geographic search to find the genres they want and make initial contacts from there.  Just wondering how it works with Karaoke folks and what percentage of your booking come from internet contacts and such...

BSR

I actually have a myspace , but not in the myspace music pages. I did not even have any clue about myspace music when I started doing karaoke.  I know it exists but have never looked into it.  I have custom printed song slips, with my www. on them. also have my web addy on all the posters I print for the bars, and I have a monthly ad in the local bar themed newspaper with my web addy.  with all this i still only average 75 hits a month.  A well laid out web page is a huge tool in separating myself from the rest of the "average" Kjs. The custom printed song slips (vs cut up note cards at most local shows), and color 8 1/2 x 11 posters for the bars help also. Even if nobody but the potential customers went on the page it would still have paid for itself many times in just six months. Im sure it will continue to grow.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

Page rank. The higher your page rank the closer to the top of the list you will show up on search engines.

Adwords from Google.

A number of pay listing sites like wedj, weddding mall, the knot.

My advertising is about $300 a month.

Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising.  Do a good job and the word spreads. Do a bad job and the word spreads faster.

I agree!  people will talk, anything bad will be heard 10x as much as good. It can take years to build a good reputation, only weeks to build a bad one

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

If your're looking to generate "private party" type bookings I agree with Lyquid
that some of the DJ type advertising sites will link to your own website
sign up and join as many as you can and you need to have your site linked to a few good search engines for KARAOKE and DJ services.

If you're just looking to get GIGS at bars and clubs - I'm not sure a website is the best way to proceed - word of mouth , referals , auditions seem to be the best

Now sites are GREAT for your regular customers for lists and pics and forums etc.

Good Luck

I don't think bar owners are spending their days searching the web for entertainers.  They are either drinking all day or already drunk. Most of it would come from someone telling someone, telling someone, telling someone....

Parties are the same way.  People come to your karaoke job and like what they see and ask if you can do a party on...or do you know someone that is available that day?

There is a massive amount of website competition to weed through.  They all have the same line of B.S. too.  So more often than not it would come down to price or availability.

A few years ago a karaoke web site was virtually useless as far as generating business. Now as more and more kids reach drinking age that grew up with karaoke machines they are almost necessary. I live on the north end of the UNC campus and CSU is 30 miles away and both towns have community colleges. My web site is almost mandatory and for the first time generates business.

With or without a web site everybody should at least have their venue(s)  listed with karaoke listings This automatically puts a web site in the search engine results and provides a path for folks planning to visit your area. I get at least one hit a week from this site. Register for a google account  and have a separate web page for your venue(s)

Exposure on popular forums with a link to your site alerts search engines to your site. Sign all guest books with a link to your site for this does the same. Get site map software, map your site and submit to Google. If you add pages remap and submit. Try to keep active and add links and features to stay high on search engines lists. Web rings help also.

These things get surfers to your web site but it still also takes all the other things to get them to your venues.

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see now that I must view this all different than others. I really do not want traffic from all over the country, so I do not worry about google or karaoke listings.(oddly enough if you google supercharged karaoke I come up as the top 8 to 10 links)  I do try to be visable in my area.
   As for a website being a huge tool in generating new clients. I am not happy with being an "average" Karaoke. Every small detail that seperates me from "everyone else" is priceless. Most venues I have worked with who have checked out the website were quite impressed. when they realise that they can hire me for about the same price as the people who really don't care, or do not make any extra effort the choice becomes simple.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

I am chagrined to say that I do not have a website. I do have Myspace, but I also use Craiglist events page pretty consistently with excellent results. Word of mouth has been my best marketing, but I am also working in an area that is absolutely overflowing with karaoke venues, thus most singers know who I am, having been to any of my shows in the last 12 years.  I do a lot of private stuff through word of mouth, too, and have never felt the need to get full-long into advertising through a website. Just haven't had the need. I guess if a person has multiple systems, people to run them, and the desire to run a lot of shows each week, a website is helpful.

It's interesting to me how karaoke is different in all our geographic areas, and it would be fascinating to spend a month just driving all around the country investigating the "state of karaoke."

All the motels have free WIFI now and most travelers have a laptop. I would love to tour other states and at the motels would check karaoke listings for a local show. I have been in several strange towns and karaoke is hard to find.  Also if you know for sure karaoke is available in a town you can spend the night there or plan the trip accodingly.

The hits I get  from the listings are usually from motels in Denver.

On the web site they can browse our song list and and make out a request list and not have to fill out slips. Our singers  wanting new songs I encourage them to browse the list at home and use the custom feature to make a request list.

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  Funny thing about maintaining a dedicated website.  I no longer do. I AM on all free listing sites, and if people are looking for A karaoke host, or shows that I work, they can find me.  See, if the DON'T know who I am, then they won't know to search for MY website.  If they DO know who I am, than they either have been to one of my shows or events, seen me work, and have my card- no NEED to look for a website.....

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Yea I gave up years ago trying to generate business at regular shows with a web site Back then nobody in the bars were on the web anyway. Things like karaoke listings now do help in those regards. In more ways a  web site is more for the DJ and getting parties. It's like I tried to say above getting them to the web does necessarily get them to the shows. But any business has to use all tools available  for exposure and a web site is well worth the money.

Times change though and like now half of our singers are college students. Our venue has free WIFI access and there are more and more coming in for that. It hasn't happened yet, but they could go on our site and use the search engine and wouldn't  even need a book.

Also I have ideas to feature our singers. It takes awhile with dial-up but recently added photos of regulars to the venue page. So this web site is part of an overall package and offers extra services, but most of all it gives this old man something to do . It's half a dozen or another.

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Having a website is something everyone in the entertainment business should have.
Aside from letting people who are new to your area know what bars or club to go to if they want karaoke.. you can use it as kind of a web based press kit, for new gigs.
If you take pictures of the shows and post them on the site.. it gives  bar owners an idea of what you can do for them, or what you can't do for them. If they(the bar owner)go to your site and see people that fit their demographic filling the bar, ordering drinks and Having a good time, then they will book you quicker, than some kj that gave them their card.
Also it is a good idea to set an area up for the singers(much like the singer's showcase here). It can just be a page were you have some pics, and a few sound bites from one of your shows, maybe even start a "performer of the month" spot light kind of thing, were you take one of the bar's regulars and feature then singing their favorite song, or just say something nice about them. This will keep  them coming back to YOUR shows, and that means they are going to keep coming back to the owner's venue, a win-win-win for all.

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1/2 of the Camp Bucca marathon Karaoke team(10 hours straight)

 SSShh WE are supposed to be maybe this and maybe that..And none of that positive crap.. Are you sure it's legal? It is not legal to post your singers on the web..
And in color? OMG.. If you post sounds you will be arrested for sure. The karaoke cops will kidnap your mother, daughter, dog and uncle henry for sure. Do you have a link? Bar owners do not even have a computer to go to your web site. The singers could care less. I just couldnt resist..  

I speak the truth and represent change. The masses can waller in mediocre karaoke forever. I will take the profits from the big bars and promise you $300/night whether you show up or not. Just because you have a faulty system should not limit your gigs. In your industry you should have first access to emergency rooms and free health insurance. Your singers will sing like meadow larks forever and prosper with their talent. For I have a dream!!!!! Ask not what your karaoke host should do for you but what you should do for them. Skip a rotation every now and then for them..  Do not ask them about the rotation..

And the truly sad part is half does not understand the saterization and realism of present BS right now.

That was a very good post and says some things I couldnt put into words  Thank You  Ollie...

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Word of mouth is better than any web site.