How do you advertise your recording services?

[rwc]

For those of you who don't have bookings to the end of April.

Newspaper ad, craigslist, friends, going to shows and whoring your business card out at every possible moment? Run a rehearsal space where you can advertise that you record as well? Magazine ad? All of the above?

[CurtZHP]

Often, the best advertisement is a satisfied customer.

[JohnDavisNYC]

get out into the clubs and hangout and drink with some bands. having a band and playing shows is good too... that way when someone asks where you did your record you can say 'oh, i did that at my studio.' then they will invariably ask to come see it sometime... then quite often it is possible to secure a booking right then and there.

but, most of my work comes through word of mouth. satisfied bands, friends of satisfied bands, promoters, managers, referrerals from other engineers.

we have never advertised and have been fortunate enough to stay solidly booked... i think it is most important to be a presence on the scene and to 'be known' by bands as someone who makes good records.

john

[@?,*???&?]

Most of my work comes through word of mouth. satisfied bands, friends of satisfied bands, promoters, managers, referrerals from other engineers.

Yes. Believe it or not, just being in the phone book makes the phone ring too.

[Shawn Simmons]

It's really simple: make good records.

[theBaldfather]

For the scene I'm in, Myspace does wonders. It's got a crappy sounding player, but virtually all band networks go through there at some point. I'll also second going out and seeing shows. Showing you care about the scene and the bands in it, will open more doors than you can believe. You are nothing without great sounding records, but I've done my best to invest myself personally in each project that's come through here, and that has been what gets me return business.

[MASSIVE Mastering]

Tape Op!

If you're running a studio where the bands actually need to be in the area, you can always go to the local entertainment rags.

Depending on the crowd you're looking for (assuming any band will do), sponsor every "Battle of the Bands" you can find. Make sure you wind up in the program and have a banner hanging at the event. Give the winning band *ONE DAY* to do whatever they want and have an "additional hours" discount ready to go and stipulated in the prize description.

If they only do the 8 hours, you're out 8 hours and you got your name out to all the other bands (be there handing out cards and offer to judge the even so you can actually put in a good word for the band you'd rather work with) and all the bands in the audience (normally a decent percentage of the audience). You might score a session or two from the other bands (offer all the participating bands a discount off the regular rates), or the winning band might want to continue with additional sessions.

[rwc]

It's really simple: make good records.

How do you yourself get the people in the door for whom you make good records for?

I've noticed craigslist and similar services usually attract the bottom of the barrel people, or the ones who don't show up, or never pay. Business cards at clubs though.. have been awesome.

[carlsaff]

Most of the people I know who are successful in engineering are (or were) also active participants in a music scene, usually as musicians. And so, the network of possible clients existed before they even began pressing record. Musicians network instinctively and naturally, and it's easy to migrate that networking from meeting, playing and touring with other musicians or bands to recording and mixing those people. I'm always surprised when I meet people who are doing engineering for a living who were never musicians themselves at some point. When you're an active part of a community of musicians who know you have the desire and talent to make quality recordings, the work will eventually come to you faster than you can handle it. Provided you're good at it, that is (and we'll assume you are!).

I realize this may not help much. But I doubt that advertising is the key. Most people get referrals from friends and associates, not ads. It's not too surprising that most people doing engineering for living now had a network of possible clients before they even started doing the work.