There are times, especially during the pandemic, when there are no choir events or concerts coming up.
But you need to keep your singing business in the public eye or people will forget you. Here are some ideas you might try.
I received a colleague’s monthly newsletter recently and it began:
“Something new happened when I sat down to write this newsletter. I realised I had no tours, no confirmed concerts, no choir events, and no in-person workshops to tell you about.”
I’m sure many of us have been in the same position, especially over the last 18 months.
But newsletters still need to go out, websites need to be kept fresh and updated, social media accounts need new content.
If your singing business disappears from public sight, you may begin to lose the following that you’ve carefully built up over the years. It takes a long time to build a following, but it can dissipate very quickly.
How do we stay in the public eye (or, at least, our choir members’ eyes) when we have nothing coming up to shout about?
Here are some ideas that might help:
- in-depth background info – don’t assume that your followers know everything about you, especially those new to your work. You can share your history (personal as a musician, or how your choir started), biography (a little glimpse into your private life), etc.
- song of the month – choose a song from your repertoire (that preferably has an associated video) and write about it: meaning and origins, where you found it, how much the choir love it, other versions, etc. This goes well in a monthly newsletter, but can also be a weekly social media thing.
- personal accounts – ask choir members or workshop attendees to write something about their experience of being in your choir or singing workshops. Make sure it’s a positive account!
- share your blue-sky thinking – even though an idea may not be concrete yet, you might want to share some of your big dreams or ideas for future projects. Including your singers at this stage can make them feel more involved.
- remind people of who you are – and what you do. It’s always good from time to time to remind your singers of your approach to singing, choice of repertoire, and generally how you approach choral work.
- past concerts – it’s a great idea to remind singers of what they’ve achieved in the past and for newer singers to know the kind of thing you do. Share past concerts, especially if videos are available.
- promote physical things – it doesn’t just have to be events that you offer. You can sell CDs, song arrangements, t-shirts, etc.
- get quotes from individuals – ask individual singers to write a short sentence saying why they love what you do. This works well on social media as you can drip-feed them into your timeline.
- offer new resources – now that you’re not working towards something specific in the near future, you might have time to offer new resources such as recorded song parts or sets of lyrics online.
- run a competition – lots of people did quiz nights over Zoom during lockdown. But how about a competition? Especially if there is something you need that might cost a lot, e.g. a new logo, name for an offshoot choir, poster design.
- other ‘stuff’ that your singers might like – it’s always good to offer your singers useful things that aren’t necessarily yours. For example, great videos of new songs, performances by other choirs, workshops being run by other people. You won’t lose your singers, but they will appreciate the service you offer.
I’m sure you’ll have loads of other great ideas. Do leave a comment and share with us all.
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Chris Rowbury
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