Choosing a Musician from the Internet: Who will you invite to your private event?

Choosing a Musician on the Internet: Who are you inviting to your event? 

We all enjoy the convenience of online shopping. Browse through a list of products,
click a few buttons and we have ordered a book, or a
tee shirt, or a toaster. Of course, we all know what those 3 common products are. We need a
description of only a sentence or 2, maybe see a photo; then we make a decision to pass or
purchase.

But what do we do when we are out of our element? Let’s say it’s the first time we wish
to buy a particular service. We have to find someone who knows something, right?
Maybe we look online for information about the service we seek.
Or maybe we prefer talking to people who are knowledgeable
about the products we want buy. Especially when there are many choices and
this is the first time you have purchased this product or service.

I mean, isn’t this the real problem these days? There is so much information.
There are so many people hooked into the Internet. Choosing  vendors/musicians from the Internet can be difficult! How do we sort through it all?

Well, you can go to a central-point, auction-style type of website.
In my profession that would be like a Gig Salad type of website.
You can go to one website, and they have 100 people offering this
particular service. This method of searching has its problems. To learn about the problems associated with that kind of website, see my blog on auction-style web services.

What you really need is a guide. And if a musician, or service vendor feels you are willing
to purchase from him, he will be willing to be your guide.
That’s why my website uses a form to handle requests for a bid on services for
an event. If you take the time to fill it out, I know you are seriously
considering hiring me. And I am continuously getting demo sample of my music
out to people. It used to be cassettes, then CDs. Now I am in the process
of getting it all online(see my demo webpages).

There are reasons for all of the questions on the web-form.  And just going through the
process of will probably cause you to think about things you hadn’t considered.

You need to find a person who is knowledgeable, reliable, honest, and of course,
talented. And who is an actual musician. I mean, it does you no good to hire the lowest priced bidder, only to find out this ‘self-professed musician’ … well, yes, they OWN a musical instrument. They just can’t really play it. There are so many of these folks offering their services
on the Internet, it makes my head hurt.

Or worse, you discover after your event that some of your heirloom Silver
Service has disappeared. There used to be 2 kleptomaniacs in the symphony.
We would be invited to perform at a country club, and they would go crazy!

Or, another time, I got a last-minute call for an event, and though I couldn’t do the gig, referred
the caterer to an agency (that is no longer in business), here in Charlotte.
The caterer later called to say how upset he was to catch the woman violinist
trying to walk out the door with $100 dollars worth of steaks in her bag!
These are real incidents. I am not making them up.

How do you know if I am reliable? Check out the references and testimonials on my
page ‘About Dennis’. Note that I list a phone number on my website. Note
that I have been in business for over 30 years. I have clients that continue to give
me repeat business for decades. I must be making them happy!

Give me a chance to make you happy, too. Fill out the form and send it in. I would love to be involved in your next event.
Or call me, Dennis Spring, at 704.535.8594. Let’s talk about your event!