File puptcrit/puptcrit.0911, message 356


Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:21:17 -0600
From: Martin Holman <jmartinholman-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] facebook


I used a regular webpage at www.bunraku.org to promote my troupe, which gets
most of the important traffic that generates bookings. But we also have a
Facebook "fan page" (Both "Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe" and "Bunraku Bay
Puppet Theater."--I'm migrating our name toward the latter.)

What others have said is true: most of the people who end up being friends
on your page will be people who know you anyway, but it's does no harm to
build a fan base. Those friends can post announcements of your upcoming
shows to their own pages, which all of THEIR friends will then see. (There
is always the potential of an announcement going "viral" if it happens to
push the right buttons, but who knows what that formula actually is.) I
always (try to remember to) ask audiences to become our friends on Facebook
at shows.

One good thing about a Facebook page, even if you have NO friends, is that
your Facebook page is indexed by google and other search engines. So a
search that includes terms that come up in your name--or your name
itself--may pull up your Facebook page. Just last week I got a call about a
possible booking (from an organization that everyone would know) and when I
went to my bunraku.org site to track the recent visitor activity on my
statistics counter, I found that someone browsing from that organization
that same day had reached my bunraku.org by clicking a link from our BBPT
Facebook page--probably the same person who ended up calling me. They may
have found us through a search from within Facebook, but, more likely, it
was a google or yahoo search that somehow took them to our the Facebook page
instead of directly to our own domain. But then, it's possible they may have
found us earlier in the search and then were looking for more information
about us from other sources and wound up on Facebook reading comments or
info there.

So, Facebook is useful for helping direct traffic and support your other
efforts, but you need a regular webpage to promote yourself.

FWIW

Marty



On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 12:32 PM, Hobey Ford <hobeyone-AT-gmail.com> wrote:

> I think Facebook and Myspace can support some of what performers need
> to do , but I don't think getting bookings is really one of them.  You
> certainly announce shows and things like that.  But it only reaches
> you're "friends" and unless these friends hire performers its not
> going to help much in that way, But it is an excellent networking and
> interaction tool for fans of your site which is positive and builds an
> audience who may come to your shows and spread the word.  Sponsors of
> course want an overflowing crowd to arrive when they hire you.  I
> started on Myspace then facebook purely for business but pretty
> quickly I shifted over into more of a social connection with distant
> friends and family, though I do make announcements to let people know
> about shows.  Musicians seem to use these interactive sites well,
> nurturing their fan base and showing their calendars and having their
> music available to hear or buy (through links).  But also to network
> with other bands and let the fans know who you are listening to.  On
> the other hand I get a lot of work through my website.
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