Whether you were approached directly by one of our associates when we found a need for the type of entertainment you provide in your area or you came to the site on your own accord, you have found yourself at the GigRoster.com sign up page and made yourself an account. Congratulations! You are now available for potential clients on one of the fastest growing performance rosters in the country, and with no cost at all! But what next? There are a number of actions you can take to make the most of your GigRoster page, all of which will help to improve your listing’s quality and attractability to potential clients.

1. Make a listing! Even though you’ve entered your contact and personal information, there still isn’t yet a public listing for your band or performing act. You’ll want to put your best foot forward and move onto the next step by clicking “New Listing” and completing the necessary steps to create a top-shelf listing to make the most of your account.

2. Make a great description. We see many new sign ups every week, all of which we are happy to host on the platform, but nothing is more disappointing to see than a new listing that is lackluster to the point of uselessness. We are committed as a company to the quality that we provide to our clients and part of that means quality listings, and blank listings with insufficient details don’t make anyone look good. So take the extra 2 minutes and write yourself a great description! Chances are you may already have a quality write-up on your website or other online resource, and there's nothing wrong with borrowing that same text. It is important to the whole community of performers on the site that we present quality content for buyers, so you’ll need to participate in that. Remember, the end goal is to get gigs and get paid, and a business card with nothing on it won’t get you very much business. And don't forget to push the "Update" button to save your work before going to the next section!
Need some tips for a good description? Check out this article from Bandzoogle to get some tips on creating a great musician's write-up.

3. Find your Best Images. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Though your description is a vital element of the listing, don't stop there! If you've been performing for any length of time then you doubtless have collected some array of fun and exciting images depicting what you do, so be sure to make use of that resource when completing your listing. Remember to use a degree of editorial finesse here - having no images just won't do, but there's little reason to follow a professionally taken shot with a blurry cell phone image from 2002. Craft your images to build the persona you want to sell, just like a traditional press kit.

Pro Tip: When people search on GigRoster they will get a number of options suggested, hopefully yours among them. Their initial exposure to you will be the first of your pictures and the first 1-2 sentences of your description. Front load your listing with the best picture first and start your description with something that generates client interest at first glance. The goal is that they click and go through to your full listing!

Here is a listing from a new "act"

Looks like Dan has a little work to do!

4. Upload Video and Audio. A great description and amazing images is a perfect way to attract a client, but to really make a sell more detailed media should be included. It may not apply to all Listings - for instance, a Santa Claus performer does not need any audio. It is, however, especially important for bands and musicians, as even the best image in the world would never truly explain what you do as well as the simplest video or audio track. Take the extra 5 minutes and find your cleanest audio and snappiest video footage to make your listing stand above the rest! Don't worry, there is no charge for adding some nice media files (but it might very well cost you if you don't!) Numerous times we have had a new performer register with us only to be booked for an event that very week, so create your listing with the intent to sell what you do and sell it well.

Pro Tip: If you include audio clips or video clips, the search results - along with your first picture and 1-2 sentences - will include a small icon indicating you have audio or video (or both). Which listing on the search results do you thinks clients will most likely choose first when searching for the perfect entertainment?

5. Make Listing Visible. Don’t forget to select the “Publish Your Listing Online So Clients Can Find You” checkbox, located at the bottom of the Listing Info tab. We do it this way so you can get your listing just right before everyone in the whole world can see it. If you fail to click this box, it will stop your listing from being visible online and that’s no fun. There’s no use making a killer listing if no one can see it!

6. Link External Websites. So now you’ve gotten yourself signed up, made a great listing (or two... or three!), and clicked the “Publish Listing…” check box. Your listing is live, but what now? You could call it a done process, but to go the extra mile we have given members the ability to create an in-page link from your web site. This will get crawled by search engines like Google and Bing (https://www.bing.com/search?q=gigroster) and in time your direct listing will begin showing up in client searches on the major engines (as well as hundreds of smaller ones). This gives you the ability to direct potential clients right to your full GigRoster listing. Let them find you first and skip all the competition! The linking code can be found under the “more” tab of your listing, where a very short code would simply be inserted into your website.

Pro Tip: When you look at your listing and compare it to other similar listings or other similar pages on the internet, can you honestly say THIS will make clients excited to hire me before anyone else? If you can’t, maybe you're not done yet. Your GigRoster listings are always easy to update, but start off right and make sure when potential clients see your act, they see the sizzle right from the get-go!

So easy! If you’ve gone through the time to sign up, there’s no reason to waste a potentially great resource and not follow through with these simple steps to make sure that you have the most impressive listing that your performance can muster! Just remember that the GigRoster staff is always available to help out if you have any issues with these details, and are more than happy to assist should any issue come up. We succeed when you succeed, so let’s all work together to make this a great year for live performances!