As of June 30 my ISP decided to get out of the business. My ISP provided free space for my Website, which has been there for the past five years. The site remained in place on their free space until about a week ago, when it was removed from their system. It is no longer available.

While there are lots of forum members who say their website is a valuable asset, this has never been the case for me. Of the thousands of hit on my site, the vast majority have been from members of various forums that I frequent. In five years I have never booked a single job directly from the site--not one. This, despite the fact that I had the site address imprinted on every piece of advertising literature I sent out during the same time frame.

In November my .com will expire and will not be renewed. I guess it was neat and a bit of an ego trip having my own .com for five years, and some members may feel it makes them seem more professional. However, I think the money can be better spent in other promotional areas.

For those that had my old email address, they can still reach me at gary_diamond@hotmail.com

Good Luck,

Gary

Sad to hear, even though there's no real history of productive traffic on the site...

For a guy as established as you are, I have to imagine your reputation serves you the best.

As well it should...

Cheers,

Bill

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Bill in Dayton

Just registering a .com domain, putting something up that looks like a website won't do the job. I'm sorry, but if your site never got you any bookings, there was something wrong with that site.

I made several sites for performers, and just by having a guestbook filled by pleased customers, along with good videos and audiofiles, they all get bookings from their website.

Let me know if you reconsider, I'd be glad to help out

Hi Gary,
You probably don't know but I am a Real Estate Broker here in Texas and have had my share of websites and I have to agree 100% with your experience. And for those who say the site is not setup right I would have that debate with them anytime anyplace as they say. I spend a considerable amount on a website because the public expects us to have a web presence - but like you I can count on one hand how much actual income has come from that website. Those agents making money from their websites are spending tons to get the website properly published and advertised - and they usually are very successful agents whose success is complimented by the website not made by it. Oh yes, they also can afford the expense of a great promo program.

The domain name is another issue - why not keep it? They are usually good for 5 years and really don't cost a lot. I think I pay under $100.00 for mine. I like it for the email addresses I can use.

I have had about half my music venues ask if I have a website or a CD. I don't have a music website and have never created a "sellable" CD - not my bag. Have thought about it but I would probably buy another domain name and do the website myself. There are plenty of inexpensive hosts for websites these days.

For those interested my real estate website is at www.deanepeters.com.

Everyone have a great Wednesday - got gigs today so it is a good day.

Hammer

What you guys are not looking at..the website also verifies your credibility...I think you would be surprised how many decisions were finalized because of your websites..

Personally, I know both my website and my band website have reaped rewards..

Gary rethink this minimal cost advertisement..

Hammer, no wonder you get no results ..your website says under construction..

I have to agree Fran......in todays world it is much needed... actually its YOUR online Business card!

Hi



Hammer just misprinted the address. This works: http://www.deanepeters.com

Regards
Jørgen

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The Unofficial YAMAHA Keyboard Resource Site

Gary,

Internet marketing is not for the faint of heart. It's takes experience and can take a some money. My site brings in lot's of work from weddings, corporate events, event planners, and even other musicians looking for work. It is all in the marketing.

I can show you how to take advantage of this and also how to increase traffic to your site to your TARGETED audience, which I guarantee is probably why you are not getting any bookings.

Besides, what is your fan club now going to do now that you are not on the internet???

Just keep playing all Gary's songs they've downloaded.

My wife convinced me, this afternoon, to keep the domain name, which only costs me about $40 a year--not a big deal.

As for the effectiveness, I spent lots of time registering and re-registering with the various search engines, putting in keywords, doing all the things that gets loads of hits. Thousands upon thousands of hit over the time I had the site, which I revised several times, has resulted in not a single job.

As for an online business card, I would much rather present my business card to my clients in person--I know this works. When I'm one on one with a client, 99.9 percent of the time I get the job. Now that's a damned good batting average sports fans.

I'm to the point now where I'm trying very hard to cut down on the number of jobs I book. Beginning in 2009 I will no longer book doubles and triples--I'm too damned old and don't need the money. One job a day is more than enough. Additionally, I'm trying to cut back to 3 to 4 jobs a week. This will allow me more time for sailing, playing with the grandson, and just plain enjoying what little life I have remaining in this rapidly aging body. The way I look at it, there comes a time when you just gotta' smell the roses.

I really do appreciate all the offers for help in reconstructing my website, but at this point in time I'm going to allow it to go away. As I said, I'll keep the domain name for a while, mainly to keep my loving spouse happy.

Thanks again everyone,

Gary

$40.00 for one year sounds high ....should be no more than $9.99 , unless you are registering more than a .com , like .net etc......

The price tag included a few extras, which I hoped would bring more hits.

Gary

You can have your own Website, Webserver, and domain name for $119.00 a year with 5 email addresses, streaming audio/video, and tons of hard disk space.

Gary,
Fran is right, the site verifies your credibility... try to keep it.

This thread harkens back to the marketing discussion we had a few weeks ago. My website does real well for me...I'm getting several bookings a month through it and I know for a fact the website is partially responsible.

I don't know that I agree it "verifies" anything in and of itself. Recently I heard the story from a client who had gone to someone's website...listened to their demo...and on the basis of that hired the act for a function. The performance she heard that night bore little resemblance to what they had on their website. She said to me that she thought they were ok to book "because their website looked so nice..."

A comprehensive website certainly allows you to communicate information to potential and existing clients. For me its well worth $9.99 a month for the hosting fees given what I get in return...(huge space, more email accounts than I can use, technical support, etc...)

Its also a big time saver...I have more than a dozen clients who use the on line scheduler to set up dates for the future. The fact that they can go on to the site and see what dates are open, which saves time for both of us, has been complimented on several times. I have 96 dates for 2009 already set up by existing clients ... with the vast majority of them utilizing the website to set up.

I'm surprised how many performers don't post their performances on their websites. For those of you who don't, can you comment on why?

Thanks-

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Bill in Dayton

[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 09-18-2008).]

Can someone suggest a good Web Host (that you have experience with) that has tools or templates that are easy to set up and use? (for dummies like myself) I had one set up for my piano lessons, which I just dropped because of a lack of support, emails ignored, etc...Been kicking around setting one up for my performance side, as well as teaching. Thanks, Gary.

Lunarpages is very good. I haven't taken advantage of the templates yet, but lots of others have. Support and service is great.
It's the same company that psrtutorial uses.
DonM

Actually, I use www.googlepages.com for my website. I registered my domain name thru www.godaddy.com and easily have my www.cassponline.com hits sent to the actual site at http://cassp50.googlepages.com/home

I may not get any jobs from it, but for me it's a good place to send clients to view topics or listen to music.

I'm one to talk, because I don't have a site, a P/R package, photo...no promotional materials at all, and I'm in the P/R business. Go figure.

That said, I do P/R for many large organizatins, and with a site, brochure...whatever, today, you've got to cut through the clutter. Your materials need to reflect your professionalism. That means:

1. No "deer in the headlights" photos shot with an on-camera strobe, causing shadows. Care must be created to angle the image so it leads the reader to vital copy areas. Make sure whoever shoots the photo(s) knows how to create images with the appropriate depth of field. No fig leaf poses...EVER!You're a pro, so it is probably appropriate to hire a pro to do the photography.

2. No punctuation, spelling or structure errors. Take a quick look at some random sites created by individuals and you'll often find lots of the above.

3. Use bold sub-heads to break-up the copy and lead the reader from topic to topic.

4. Make sure that the final output copy is at least 12 points in size (to the extent you can control this).

5. Make sure that copy width is no longer that 25 picas (again-from the design standpoint).

6. Write copy in a "T" form. You need to be able to drop all but the first paragraph, and that paragraph needs to be usable as a cutline below a photo to stand alone.

7. Remember, a site is part of a promotion category called "maintenance". You'll never know the total benefit (or damage from a bad site, for that matter). As I've said before, it's like peeing in a dark pair of pants...you don't see anything, you just get this nice warm feeling.

8. Make sure the illustrations you use lead the viewer to the copy. Most often, the lead illustration needs to be on the left side and "right reading".

9. Navigation must be logical and easy.

10. You need to grab the viewer and tell the essence of your story in 15 seconds or less. Just think of the length of time you spend on looking at a site the first time. If you're not "grabbed" in the first few seconds, you move on.

A site is primarily a visual medium, and the visuals need to be dramatic.

The perception is, design is the primary task, but the best design in the world will not negate the effect of sub-par content.


Sorry for the rant. This is what I teach (Communication processes) and what I do for a living. It's easy for me to climb that soapbox.


Russ

Well I hope our site does all that Russ espouses....

Our website (and I would've thought MOST regular local club performer's websites) let's our fanbase know when and where we're playing - simple as that.

We play for a lot of regulars - and DANCERS in particular - so I take the opportunity to list our monthly dates with info on Venue, Dance floor, Times, Location (I include a google map link for each Venue) and what style of music we're playing (if possible) and whether or not it's an "event" night e.g. if we're giving away prizes, if it's a themed show and so on.

For regular Club players, I always thought of a website as a "what we're doing this month" kind of thing - nothing more, nothing less.

The jobs themselves come from our Agents and occasionally from a direct booking from an audience member on the night.