I Love Anchor Gigs

I love anchor gigs!

So, what in the world am I talking about and what does it have to do with marketing and storytelling/performing?  Great question, if I do say so myself.


As I look at my calendar, I often find that I get requests for programs outside of my local area.  You get them too.  They are gigs that you cannot do without some travel and at least one overnight away from home.  Many storytellers and other performers turn these down immediately for several reasons; too far from home, the venue can't afford to pay your gig fee plus motel plus mileage, perhaps you just don't know the area.


If you don't want to travel those are all good reasons not to take a gig.  If, like me, you enjoy the travel and seeing new sites, these gigs become Anchor Gigs and an opportunity for other gigs and more income! 


An Anchor Gig is a gig I schedule and begin to build around.  As I build a tour I do not like to bounce down the highway from one town to the next for gigs.  I would rather find a good area to market in and a decent motel, a welcoming friend or a neat Bed and Breakfast and begin to look for opportunities.


For example, if you have a gig opportunity in Atlanta, Georgia make that your Anchor Gig and draw a 60 mile circle around Atlanta.  That is approximately an hour drive any direction which is very reasonable travel time to a gig for me.  I personally love to use an Atlas and a compass for this task.  It makes it easier than trying to do this on Google Maps or Mapquest.  The map has a mileage scale that I use to adjust my compass as I draw a circle IN PENCIL! 


Try it on Google Maps - do an imaginary circle and see all the towns and cities within an hour drive!  There is Roswell, Smyrna, Lawrenceville, Marietta... and Athens is just 9 miles outside that circle, so I would include it too!

The next step is Google "mining for venues".  I search the surrounding towns, villages and cities for opportunities; Libraries, Festivals, Civic Clubs, Churches, Day Camps, Senior Centers, Museums all are great opportunities.  

I personally like to start with a postcard (can you imagine me starting with a postcard) or e-mail if I can find a contact person at each possible venue.  Having a date creates a sense of urgency for the contact.  In an e-mail you would suggest "I will be in your area the week of November 5th and have dates still available" .  For a postcard I like to use a gold foil label on the front of the postcard with "Stephen will be in the Smyrna area the week of November 5th, call for scheduling info".

I do my homework and determine which of my programs would best fit each venue and send the appropriate e-mail or postcard.  I do NOT send a generic e-mail or postcard.  I try my best to suggest a specific program.


Follow up with a polite phone call, confirm they received the e-mail or phone call and ask if they would like to schedule a program.  It might take 5 or even 10 contacts to get another gig, but persistence pays off.  Does it work?  Yes, it works very well for me.  

For the second week in August I started with a gig about 4 hours away from home.  A decent paying gig, but in the middle of the week.  I mailed about 50 postcards (my cost was about 42 cents each so a cost of $21) and made 30 or 40 e-mail contacts.  As a result of mining around that Anchor Gig I now have 4 gigs instead of one.  I will need to stay for three nights in that area, but one of the venues offered lodging in a lovely guest suite for two nights as part of my compensation!



 Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio.  He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA.