Emily Bowles of New York, New York writes:
“I work for a small New York City-based nonprofit that provides free website resources to performing artists (musicians, dancers, choreographers, producers/directors, actors, etc.) seeking rehearsal and performance spaces in NYC.
“Our websites at NYCMusicSpaces.org , NYCDanceSpaces.org and NYCTheatreSpaces.org allow performing artists to search for spaces that match their space and budgetary needs.
“We provide detailed rental information about more than 1,300 rentable spaces in all five NYC boroughs, at no cost to users. No membership or registration is required.
“Our resources have not been an easy sell to the media. We may be heroes to those who have used our website(s) to find spaces that enabled them to perfect their art and present it to an audience (we have lots of testimonials), but we are “unsung” and not widely known. Space is highly coveted in NYC and the need is great, but our product isn’t compelling enough.
“Our nonprofit organization, NYC Performing Arts Spaces, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and we are on the verge of consolidating our online resources, so that all three websites may be searched simultaneously. Any suggestions for how to create significant ‘buzz’ within the music, theatre and dance communities for little or no money, and reach an even wider audience (which we hope will include potential funders)?”
Emily can enlist the resources of the pro audio retailer community in NYC, the very places where musicians get their gear (for example Dale Audio, Rock & Soul). A link exhange may be a reasonable trade as well, they let their customer base know where to practice & you let your audience know a great place or two to get gear.
I would contact every performing artist you can find on MySpace (and there are literally tens of thousands of them), have them add you to their Friends list, and then comment on their page about your available services.
Then when you have built up a big ‘famous’ Friends list, I would contact the media (both the entertainment focused media and then the larger media) to let them know about this novel way to advertise your services and get out the word that you help performers (big and small) find venues for their art. Chances are some of the people who add you as Friends at MySpace will want to pay to use the spaces you enlighten them about and may also be willing to help you out with fundraising either by donating their own money and time to your organization or perhaps in the form of goods that could be sold in a charity auction to raise the money you need to keep the venture going.
Your service sounds like an excellent one and I’ll pass along your URLs to the performers and artists I know who should know about what you are doing.
Good luck and congratulations on your 20th anniversary
The Vault
http://vdovault.wordpress.com
Emily,
Have you considered pitching your story to the business section or a real estate writer? The rising cost of real estate and rent, and how it affects a segment of the community that may not be on their radar(artists), is another angle that might draw some interest.
Also, what about hosting an “open spaces” event to coincide with your web kick-off. Invite artists who currently use your services to open to the public for an afternoon of rehearsals and informal performances? Sort of like an “open studio” event with visual artists, but featuring performing artists…the public and other artists could pick up a map with locations and tour space to space, enjoying an afternoon of performing arts. It could raise visibility for your program, and also for the artists.
Good Luck!
Rachel
Maybe there is a band,musician,actor or dancer who used your services in the past and has now made it big who would be willing to promote you as part of the annniversary celebrations.
Why not call on people who own the spaces you help rent. Use your own resources on your website to ask for the donation of a space, then ask those who have used your service to donate their talents, and hold an event/party/performance with music. Well ahead of the date, alert the media — Timeout NY, the local TV stations (especially NY 1 which covers theater extensively), Fox 5, ABC. There would be a lot of interest in this for the various magazine shows about what’s going on in NYC.
And of course, announce it to the Trade papers.
There are multiple social networking sites beyond MySpace so I would apply the techniques mentioned already to as many of them as possible.
Shoutlife.com, a Christian focused space, is set up to let people sign up by the categories author, musician or group which might make it easier to communicate with your target audience.
Ning is another network space that has some search features.
Good luck!
Since you are celebrating a big anniversary, why not celebrate it with a performance of many of your talented artists/customers at one of your open spaces? You could also have a silent auction or tie-in a fundraiser around the event and contact performance related companies regarding donations for the event.
Craigslist is also a great place to announce the event and your sites. What about tapping local associations and industry trades online and in print? Some offer free classified ads to promote your web site. Exchange links with other relevant businesses online as well.