Thread: Myspace/Facebook actually useful for business?

Okay, the current debate between me and my husband-he feels having a Myspace or Facebook page (in addition to personal website) is a useful tool for getting dance gigs. I think he's delirious, however I happen to dislike both Facebook and Myspace. Any businesses I have seen there give me very little info, mostly it's just a page of who they are "friends" with.
So I need some backup to win this debate! Has anybody actually been able to use these sites to obtain gigs? Or am I a technophobic dinosaur who is missing out on half the dance seeking world? ..l;,
Nikki

One of my friends asked me to post notices of my upcoming classes on facebook so she could forward the link to her facebook friends, thereby helping me get the word out to potential students.

A few said they would come to my classes but didn't actually show up. One said it was because she had child care issues, but wanted to be kept informed about future classes. Who knows, they might come in the future, though. Sometimes timing is everything.

Satinworship has talked about getting performance gigs through myspace. Maybe she'll join this thread and give specifics.

I had one enquiry about classes, once, about another town, where I don't teach...hmmmmmm.

My MySpace page is dedicated to my dance business, but I've never gotten a student or gig from it.

I've been on MySpace for two years and it has helped a little bit but not anything significant. I've also been on Facebook for six months and Tribe for over a year; neither one has yielded up any major results either. But I have met some very interesting people from all over the world, moreso on MySpace than on Facebook.

Not so much for getting gigs as much as getting people to come to your gigs, which has its auxiliary benefit of indicating that you have a following, and therefore, will bring more business to your venue, making your more marketable & desireable at said venue...

I've actually gotten a few clients for shoots from myspace and I have a couple friends that bellydance that have used it to spread the word about events they put on and it seems to help and they have also gotten one or two students from there.

It's no substitute for a real website IMO, but it's free and if it only gives you one extra client a year, then worth it.

Also has helped for networking with people as well for business.

I agree though, you have to set your site up pretty well so that it highlights your biz and doesn't just look like another teeny boppers site.

you can check out mine: Jeremy Shane Photography | MySpace.com
it's pretty basic layout (and could get rid of the friends part if you didn't want to show your contacts at all)

I haven't had too much success student wise and very few new people show for events, but it has helped with friends and acquaintances I already have. Sometimes it's how some people I know prefer to contact. I do have to admit that I hardly use mine anymore since I put a lot of my energy in personal contact.

In the past, I found tribe.net to be very helpful for promoting workshops to other dancers. I did this several ways - by blogging about the workshops, by posting messages announcing them on the various tribes for my part of the country, and by using the "event" feature in tribe to announce them.

I have not been on facebook as long, so I don't know yet how effective it will be for this purpose. I have sent out event announcements for the workshops I am teaching at Saqra's Showcase and my lecture at Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive. These announcements seem to have generated interest in people, but since the workshops haven't happened yet it's too early for me to tell you whether facebook actually generated some of the attendees.

So, I think having a network on facebook allows you to reach fellow belly dancers and students with your announcements that might be of interest to our insiders, such as haflas and workshops. But I'm not convinced yet that it will generate gigs or draw new students to me.

One of my 'togs actually does not have a website and gets all of her work through Craigslist and Facebook. She's so thorough and out there she practically doesn't need a website. It's crazy and I admire her.

I don't seek gigs so not sure about that, but it has helped in promoting workshops and classes. I find it is easier to use than my regular email account.

I use it mostly for networking, and it's been very helpful. Especially locally; I've met some people that I probably wouldn't know otherwise. I think it's useful for marketing workshops/shows and meeting other dancers.

I'm scratching my head about this person on myspace who keeps sending me "friend" invitations. I think I've denied about 5 of them so far. I normally accept "friend" invites from fellow dancers even if I don't know them, but I don't think this is a dancer. I think it's a "fan":

the beautiful belly dancers by shaul ivgi on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

Personally I think all of the neworking sites are useful in generating "buzz" (or Bhuz in some cases) about whatever you are doing, whether it's events, performances, teaching classes, whatever. The more places you are online, the more it drives traffic to your website. They work hand in hand, imho. It takes time, but I think its definitely worth it.

Shira, I'm friends with that guy too and he's just a fan of bellydance. S/He hasn't posted anything bad on my profile...it's harmless in my opinion

Hmm, interesting...so I would say for most it seems to be a better networking than marketing tool. Thanks for all the responses! Oh, and JShane-I really liked your page, you do some great work! =)
Nikki

Tired and margarita-laden right but, but chiming in anyway!

Last year, I had a HUGE success on MySpace and got a pretty decent number of gigs on there. The people that found me were nightclub promoters from different local venues, who ultimately sought me out for theme nights or promotional events. I didn't do anything on my end to solicit this - they just found me! (Probably because I tailored my copy and my pictures to appeal to the club crowd).

Now, I'm on MySpace again and have gotten zero hits. My current theory is that a) the clubs aren't hiring "promoters" due to the economy and b) they might have been running targeted searches for single chicks (or 25 and under). Now that I'm the ancient age of 26 and happily taken, not a single person from a club has sent me a friend request or whatever. Very, very odd. That being said, I think if you want to start networking with club owners, you might have to do the dirty work yourself.

I think you guys have all pretty much hit the nail on the head. Here's my recap on social media:

1. It's best used as a supplement to your existing media mix, not as a substitute for a good website and some killer press

2. It's an efficient tool for tracking down old dance buddies, staying informed on the workshop circuit, keeping your students in the loop, and planting the seed in people's minds to come see you dance.

3. DON'T expect miracles overnight. My biggest pet peeve is when advertisers (in dance or in my day job) try a form of media for 2 weeks, don't get an immediate ROI and pull the plug because "it didn't work." Use it correctly - and be patient! - and you'll gradually see the benefits of a social media campaign.

4. Social media, when used properly, is a great way to turn any brand into something organic, alive, charismatic and compelling. You know all that super-serious third-person copywriting you do on your professional website? MySpace, Facebook and blogs are a great place to tell fun stories, give a glimpse into your quasi-glamorous life, and be a little bit of a rock star. Do it genuinely and with conviction - and this is a beautiful way to round out your public persona. (Remember, I'm a PR/media chick - forgive me if I talk cheesy when it comes to this stuff!)

5. Frequently updated web content makes the marketing gods sing! Once again, not the best M.O. for instant gratification, but by posting to MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or a blog, you stay top-of-mind for any students, "fans," venue owners or previous clients that might be on your list. Keep 'em coming back for more and who knows! This could easily set the stage for referrals further down the line.

I'm on facebook, tribe, and myspace. My myspace is set up as a professional page only, although I do have some old high school/college friends on there. I really don't like its layout though and saw it as kind of a necessary evil. I don't think I've gotten any students from it directly.

Facebook I use for more personal reasons. I have lots more family and old friends on there. I do post about dance stuff, but it's not the main focus of the account. I've only been there a short while though, and can't speak to its effectiveness in marketing.

Tribe I like for the community aspect of it. Like Shira said, tribe is where I've had the most success generating interest in my events, classes and performances. My troupe has a tribe and we update that relatively often with news and upcoming shows and workshops. As with myspace, I really don't do much in the way of personal posting on tribe.

I have a neighbor who has made a business out of training people how to effectively use social networking. I haven't used his services, but I'm intrigued to say the least.

I heard it called a "client retention tool" on the radio the other day. That's how I like to think of it.

I have a personal myspace and a myspace specifically for my studio and I've gotten both gigs and students off of both.

It didn't seem to be benefiting me much until about a month ago when I got aggressive about getting out there. What I did was a search for my key demographic (women 18 to 40) in my local area. Then I just started sending friend requests. I'd say roughly 90% of my requests were accepted (I do check profiles for key things that denote possible interest before I send a request...very time consuming, but worth it). I've gotten tons of inquiries about classes. Some of the requests have come through myspace messages and some have come through my website which they found through my profile (I know this because they mentioned it in their email). In the last month I've had 5 new students show up, 4 new ones who signed up for my next session in March, and a serious inquiry about ongoing semi private lessons during the day. Its also been great for getting people to gigs. Last restaurant gig that I did I blogged and put out some bulletins...did it earlier in the week and then sent out a reminder the morning of...I had 6 people show up that learned about the gig from those postings. Not bad.

I get way more students than gigs, but I'd say that its been worth maintaining. Its all about how aggressive you want to be about it I think. I'm going to do another push with friend requests in my area soon and see if that nets me anything more. Its definitely not a substitute for traditional marketing, but its been a great tool and its working in conjunction with some other marketing that I"m doing very nicely. I'm planning on expanding my blogging and other information that I'm putting on the myspace page and seeing how active I can keep it. I think that as long as I keep it active it will benefit me.

I've just created a group for my studio on facebook...I'm not convinced that is going to bring me more students though...I'm of the opinion that myspace is better for networking with new people and facebook is better for people you already know. So I'm more gearing it more towards my existing students. The group has a forum, places for photos, etc....so I think its a good way to spark some good discussion with my students, let them ask questions, etc....all the thing that they bring up as I'm trying to leave the studio at the end of the evening <grin>.

I find myspace to be a great tool for both me and my troupe. I'm not very good at updating my websites and don't often have the time! With myspace I can upload new photos and info, promote upcoming shows and classes and even keep a little blog about how exciting it was to perform at such venue and link to the venues's profile (an any other performers I may have worked with) which they really seem to like!
Most times people see me dance then happen to find me afterwards on myspace rather then finding my website and sending an email through that.
I have also gotten many free photoshoots through photographers wanting to expand their portfolios. I'm not a facebook kind of gal but I imagine it would be the same.

Thanks for keeping this thread going, it's really interesting to me! I don't know what to think about just sending someone a "please friend me" thing-but then again, I'm the type of person who deletes anyone I do not know personally. I'm glad to hear you've had good results =)
Nikki

same here!

students used my facebook events to tell their friends and family about these events, they also use facebook to communicate with each other (organise get to gethers outside of class, carpool, sharing ressources, organising a trip to bella)... so it's a comunication tool that brings me business yes

myspace has never worked like this for me, except for a few times were students that took a workshop with me abroad wanted to get hold of me, and for some reason they found my myspace rather than my website/email.

Originally Posted by Azhia

Not so much for getting gigs as much as getting people to come to your gigs, which has its auxiliary benefit of indicating that you have a following, and therefore, will bring more business to your venue, making your more marketable & desireable at said venue...

Originally Posted by artemisia_danst

organising a trip to bella

Class trips to Bella. I am so jealous.


I've been on facebook for less than a month, but I'd agree that it's useful primarily for relationships within the dance community. It's helpful for keeping up with the lives of my dance friends and students, and for keeping in touch with friendly dance acquaintances whom I don't get to see very often.