When you’re in a rock and roll band, you spend a lot of time worrying about money, unfortunately. Club owners simply do not want to pay bands what they’re worth these days; one of the reasons is that many bands are not worth much anyway and so the rest of you get lumped in with those bands. So bands can no longer rely on the club to pay them a living wage and have to think of other ways of making money. That’s why now, more than ever, a band’s merch booth is maybe the most important part of the gig, other than not being abjectly terrible. So here are some tips to give your band’s merch booth the makeover it most definitely and desperately needs.
1. Make People Know it Exists
Oftentimes you’ll go into a club and ask the sound guy where bands normally set up merch, and they’ll point to a dark and distant corner. What many bands don’t know is they don’t have to blindly follow that rule. Set up in a more prominent place, and even more importantly, bring your own lighting and some banner displays that you can use band funds to get for real cheap at The Display Outlet. A display and even a slap dash lighting array can bring people’s attention to the booth who might otherwise look past it. At the very least it draws people’s attention to that, and attention is traffic which means more money.
2. Have More Things to Buy
You know you need CD’s, maybe even LP’s, and of course t-shirts and stickers. But these items can be a bit more than a casual fan will want to spend (and stickers should be free), so get some other items that people might be willing to toss a few singles at your for. You can get condoms which is a novelty almost gag gift that goes over well, same goes for panties with the band logo emblazoned on them. Bottle openers and little lights are great things that can go for $2-5 and people will be inclined to buy impulsively. Maybe they won’t want to spend the money on the CD, because they can download the record or already have, but are willing to get a cool piece of cheap merch because you guys ruled so much.
3. Cute Girl at the Booth
How many times will a guy go to the merch booth simply because there’s a cute girl and he knows she has to interact favorably with him because it’s her job? It’s human nature. You can fight it and claim sexism and all that, but you’ll be wrong. Guys – and even girls – like talking to cute female merch booth workers and not some scruffy dude who should be guitar teching or at least loading the gear back into the van. It’s not rocket science that sex sells, and even if the girl isn’t having sex with the show attendees – and she’s not, let there be not mistake – that very promise of interaction with a cute girl leads to sales which leads to more gas in your van.
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1. Make People Know it Exists
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| The Display Outlet |
2. Have More Things to Buy
You know you need CD’s, maybe even LP’s, and of course t-shirts and stickers. But these items can be a bit more than a casual fan will want to spend (and stickers should be free), so get some other items that people might be willing to toss a few singles at your for. You can get condoms which is a novelty almost gag gift that goes over well, same goes for panties with the band logo emblazoned on them. Bottle openers and little lights are great things that can go for $2-5 and people will be inclined to buy impulsively. Maybe they won’t want to spend the money on the CD, because they can download the record or already have, but are willing to get a cool piece of cheap merch because you guys ruled so much.
3. Cute Girl at the Booth
How many times will a guy go to the merch booth simply because there’s a cute girl and he knows she has to interact favorably with him because it’s her job? It’s human nature. You can fight it and claim sexism and all that, but you’ll be wrong. Guys – and even girls – like talking to cute female merch booth workers and not some scruffy dude who should be guitar teching or at least loading the gear back into the van. It’s not rocket science that sex sells, and even if the girl isn’t having sex with the show attendees – and she’s not, let there be not mistake – that very promise of interaction with a cute girl leads to sales which leads to more gas in your van.
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