How are you, K?

Print business cards at Staples or Office Depot.
Hand them out at open mics, etc.

yellow pages will definitely work but it will take time- get out there and pass out cards and specials. It takes time to build a word of mouth reputation but once you have it(and its positive) work will steadely come in- Also you might want to consider alternative recording gigs, like students and schools, also churches, church groups. It may not be where you wanna be at but it will pay for the rent untill you become the studio you wanna be- and many times business will pull you in a different direction- go with it and let it flow.

maintiger wrote: Also you might want to consider recording churches, or church groups.

What if they want you to join their cult? I mean the next thing you know your in a gun fight with the BTFA, and the place is on fire. :shock:
Sheeeeze, all in the name of Jesus? What the hell?:cry:
I do like your advice maintiger. As always! :wink:
But when they start lighting the wooden crosses.
Sessions over! :(

You can get 5000 postcards (full color both sides) for less than $200 from hotcards.com - you can put more information on them than a business card - work better on bulletin boards - and are prettier too.

I did a lot of work for free to get going - but I'm not trying to make a living at this. One thing I did was record an open mic night event - I let the performers order a CD for $10 for a solo act - a little more for groups.

Open mics nights are a lot of work to mix, and I lost my butt on that venture (I knew I would) but I've had several folks come back to me and pay for services.

Get a good looking website up and running with samples folks can download.

Thanks for the input

The Cards idea is excellent and a good price too. Im currently promoting at clubs and on the streets. soon to get those cards. Thankx guys.

Kmnite-one of the more popular reasons a business fails is poor plannng or lack-there-of. Figure out what you want to do-and be specific. Not too long ago studios like your's (and mine for that matter) didn't exist. Here's a list of suggestions for you:

1)Get business cards and carry them on you EVERYWHERE.

2)If you have a commercial building do what you can to keep down utility costs-that means shutting down equipment when not being used.

3)You sell time-make people respect your time. This can prove difficult in hip hop.

4)Do you know what you're doing? How does your stuff sound compared with what your clients are listening to? For $50 I wouldn't work more than two hours and I guess for a mixtape you could get it to sound like most local mixtaes in that period of time. What about cds, burning time, etc. That will determine whether your prices are cool. When you get a good price sheet, STICK TO IT.

5)Set rules and stick by them. If you don't respect your own rules no one else will.

These are just a couple things I could suggest to help you and I could ramble on for days about this. Above all put out great music and keep a good vibe for your clients. Hope this helped.

i agree to the "stick to your rules" suggestion... when i first started (which was doing exactly what you are doing) there were several times i had to tell the artist and his 53 boys to "go home - you're late. im busy working on someone elses project. call me tomorrow and we will set up a new date."

also, im am a huge believer in sharing and making friends... going to clubs is not a bad idea, but i wouldn't prmote to the crowd... why? well, because most of the crowd are consumers... you want the performers... meet the people at the club who work there ie promote, book djs, do PR work... go inside the club and mingle with everyone you can meet... you may meet a variety of people who know someone who know's someone... NETWORK

a web site is pretty hepful now-a-days...

but most importantly... QUALITY WORK

and as soon as you finish a project, let everyone know... EVERYONE... public relations is HUGE

oh, and one last thing... promote to the "inner circle" ie the early adopters, influence makers, etc... once this small but elite group enjoys your work... they will spread the word outwards from the circle... this expotential...HUGE HUGE HUGE... no one cares if mc johnny jerk bones tells everyone he recorded there, but EVERYONE CARES if simon the biggest night club promter said he knows this guy who is putting out slamming recordings...

hee hee... you can also look into people like this (even if it's just finding a friend who take on such roles on a small and local level):

Cornerstone Promotion
http://cornerstonepromotion.com/

Thats some Dope ideas

Yeh Right about now Im hustlin big time. Im not playing around with nuthin or nobody. Im sticking to the 40$ a track and 100-200$ for a beat for now.

i got my eyes on a Sebatron 2000 and some more street credits...then im gonna be bumping it up to 25$ an hour.

Right now im down and out, still paying off this new digi 002 off. I gotta clients cd done, im waiting on him to come and pick it up and pay for everything.

With that money lik 400+$ im gonna try to get the business cards....and im right now getting into making a website, its flash, coming along good. Trying to get my name out as much as possible.... working on my mixing, proudcing, rapping, everything.

Anyone got a good contact that'll help us out with website creation?

peace