[Dixielandjazz] PRO - Keeping Statistics - Booking OKOM 101

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

This is primarily for leaders of OKOM bands.

A lot of the listees seem to think that OKOM is going down hill but I'm not so sure of that.  So I decided to do some breakdowns of what I did last year.  I know that I did better with my bands this past year but I also wanted to see what I might do to improve bookings in the future.

So far I have 10 bookings (two for Jan with another band) for the new year and a list of dates from other leaders which I may or may not take.  (lets make that 11- I just got off the phone with a booking as a single) 

Last year I played 56 jobs.  22 of those jobs were with other bands and 34 were my bookings.  My bookings were about double last year's and my total jobs with other bands was somewhat less.  My bookings are at substantially more money than what other leaders pay for a gig and range from approximately double to five times more than I make as a sideman.  Most of my gigs are one, sometimes two hours while the other bands range from one to 5 hours.

Of those 34 jobs I booked,13 were new clients, two were not new but I hadn't booked them for several years and two of the gigs were singles.  The rest (17) were return gigs.

My best three months were February, June and December.

My worst three months were January, March and August.  So far those months have already improved.

So what does this tell me? 
1. Right off the bat it tells me that my advertising is working.
2. Booking singles will pay off.  Today I had sold the client with one of my shows - sent her to my web site and had 100% booked the band but she freaked at the price.  I asked her what her budget was and I said I would do a single for that.  That price is triple what other band leaders pay for a sideman for the same job and what she wanted to pay for groups.  I also got my foot in the door a little for my big band on a week night.  BTW music wasn't discussed  until I started selling my other shows and then only generally.  I will say it again - This isn't about the music.
3. I need to advertise more for the slow months.
4. I need to compile a list of my clients, events and what they paid me so that I won't under charge myself and possibly up the price by a few bucks.
5. My web page is paying off, if for no other reason it gives me something to talk about.
6. I should expect my bookings with other bands to continue to fall off.
7. My goal of 80 - 100 jobs is obtainable and that so far this year is better than last with more advanced bookings and more money.
8. I need to expand my advertising into new areas.
9. The number of high end jobs has gone up.

Lastly with that many OKOM jobs I may very well be booking more work than most of the so called top bands in town.  It also tells me that OKOM sells and what that tells the other bands is they should have hired me and kept me busy because I am definitely out there.

Maybe you, if you are a band leader, should go back over your jobs and the way you do business and see how you can improve your batting average.  If you don't have a plan "B" you should come up with one.  Today my plan "B" of 10 years ago is my plan "A".

My new years resolutions are to diversify my mailing list and widen out my client base, improve my web site and produce a demo CD.

I sincerely hope none of you think any of this is bragging or putting anyone down.  I'm not sitting out there like some, bemoaning the fact (Is it a fact?) that OKOM is going away.  I think that everyone can do better but as I did for a long time may be spinning their wheels.  So what if the festivals are tanking, that's not the end all of OKOM.  Maybe a couple of ideas here and there might help.
Larry
St. Louis