Question:
How do you know if you are setting your fees appropriately?
Your fees are in direct relation to your market value. Ask yourself:
Have you played the market before?
Have you kept a record of all your ticket and merchandise sales for each gig?
Do you have a following in the market?
Have you created a working budget for your tours?
All these factors help determine how much to ask when negotiating.
Negotiation is a partnership.
You must work to create win-win deals making sure you get what you need and they get what they need to make sure the audience gets what they need.
Check out these articles on The Art of Negotiation.
Negotiation Techniques, Part 1
Negotiation Techniques, Part 2
There is a large chapter in my [Jeri Goldstein’s] book, that goes into even more detail with resources for further reading to build your negotiation chops.
How to Be Your Own Booking Agent
THE Musician’s & Performing Artist’s Guide To Successful Touring
This is part of an email series for Indie artists from Jeri Goldstein of Performingbiz.com.