Press Kit Workshop

A few weeks back I conducted a short readers survey, on the subject of Press Kits, which has been our most popular topic. While many folks were happy to use the articles on this site to work on their own press kits, it turned out that lots of people wanted some fairly specific help. Quite a few just emailed and said “can’t I pay you to do it?”

While it’s all well and good to get someone to do it for you there are a number of issues with this approach. Firstly it can be very expensive as it’s quite a time consuming effort, and you’re usually paying by the hour. Secondly, if the person writing it doesn’t really know much about you or your band, then you stand a good chance that what they write for you won’t be relevant. Too many of these writing services just pull out the same stuff they wrote for their last customer, change the name, then charge you full price! If your bio and press kit don’t really capture the essence of what you are about then they are pretty much useless. In this day and age what we are selling more and more relies on an honest connection between our music and the people who support us like booking agents and record labels. A stock bio that they’ve read ten times before is no longer appropriate!

The answer seemed to be a compromise between writing it yourself and farming the whole thing out. A lot of folks just wanted help! They wanted someone to look over their shoulder and give them help and advice along the way. Many also wanted a “second opinion” or someone to bounce ideas off. Some had already made an effort but weren’t sure where to go next and some were completely stuck!

So after many emails and much late night thinking, the idea was born to run an online Press Kit Workshop or Coaching Session.

I am very pleased to announce that the first Press Kit Workshop will start this week.

It will consist of four weeks access to a private online portal using a wonderful service called Basecamp. It will allow people to interact with myself and the other participants in a very collaborative manner. It has threaded message boards, to-do lists, real-time chat rooms, file uploads, collaborative word processors and more. What this means is that you can get actual one on one help as well as the benefits of brainstorming with the other members.

I’ll help you research and write your complete press kit from start to finish so by the end of the four week session you will have a usable and effective tool to help you find work, approach radio stations & record labels or whatever your particular goal is. You can also upload your demo’s & photographs and have the group critiqe them well before you actually have to send them out.

Imagine next time someone asks for more info on your band you can just send out a complete, comprehensive and well written press kit. Imagine actually having this chore behind you!  Imagine being able to get back to your music instead of worrying about all this stressful writing! Well, imagine no more, we now have the means to get the job done professionally and with a minimum of fuss.

Here’s what you’ll get:

• Four weeks of 24/7 access to Basecamp so you can work whenever it suits you.
• Specific help from me in wording and writing your Press Kit from start to finish.
  Normally valued at $300.
• A 20 minute Skype call with me to discuss your project one on one.
  Normally valued at $50
• Interaction, networking and brainstorming with the other participants.

You Press kit will include:

• A hand written Biography that accurately describes you or your band.
• A properly constructed Contact Sheet.
• An accurate Stage Plot and Equipment List.
• Help in writing Covering Letters to send with your press kit that sell your band.
• A Press Reviews and Testimonials sheet.
• A review of your Demo and your Photography.

What’s it cost?

As many people have noted it can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get something like this produced. Well… not here! The whole deal is yours for only $77US, which is less than $20 per week. There are no catches, upsells or add-ons. That’s the whole price folks, $350 value for just $77! 
(plus 10% GST for Australian customers)

Think about it, if your new press kit only gets you one miserable gig it will have paid for itself already. Now I can’t guarantee how much work it will get you, that’s up to a lot of things outside my control such as your actual musical talent. What I will guarantee though is that if you aren’t completely happy with what you end up with at the end of the workshop, I’ll give you your money back in full – no questions asked! I don’t think I can be much fairer than that.

What happens now?

Enrolments are now open! Enrolments will stay open till next Tuesday or until all the places have been filled. The doors will open to the workshop at 7pm Wednesday the 11th of February Sydney, Australia time (see your time here) and will run for four weeks.

Places will be limited to the first 10 applicants to ensure that the participants get plenty of time and attention so you will need to act quickly. As an added bonus I’m giving away a free 3 month VIP membership to Live365 to the first 5 people enrolled. Live365 is the Worlds largest provider of internet radio stations, so you can use your brand new press kit to work on getting your music some much needed airplay. They have over 5000 stations active so I’m sure we will be able to find one or two that play your style of music. A 3 month VIP membership normally sells for $23.85 but is completely free to the first 5 in.

Frequently Asked Questions.

• How do I pay for the workshop?
  We are using Paypal as our payment collector. It is completely secure so we never see your credit card details.
• How long does it run for?
  You will have 24/7 access to the Basecamp portal for four weeks. However, should some folks need more time I’ll be happy to keep it open longer.
• How will the one-on-one calls work? I’m in a different time zone to you. Won’t that be expensive?
  The calls will be via Skype which is completely free to download and for Skype to Skype use. Once the workshop has started we will pre-arrange a time & date for the call that suits us both.
• Do we all have to log on at the same time?
  No. That’s the beauty of Basecamp. The messageboards are all threaded so nothing ever get’s lost or overlooked. If you leave me question, it will be right in front of me next time I log in. There is also a collaborative word-processor so we can highlight whatever changes are made and who made them. If we do manage to be logged on at the same time we can use the real-time chat rooms to communicate instantly. Basecamp was specifically made for remote collaboration and it does it well.
• How does the guarantee work?
  Simple, if you aren’t completely happy with the end result of this workshop for any reason, I’ll give you your money back.

The response to this workshop has been phenomenal so I’m sure there are still plenty of questions that will still be floating around. Just jump into the comments box below and feel free to get those questions off your chest. Once more, places are strictly limited and this workshop will never be offered at this low price again, so if you are keen but still need to know more, ask below.

I’m really looking forward to working personally with you to take the first steps in taking your music online.

Kind regards, Mark Gibson