Hey, what's up gigging pros. It's Jared and welcome to another episode of The Gigging Musician Podcast. Right. Today, I wanted to update you on my nonprofit strategy, which has been the theme of the several last episodes. If you remember a couple episodes, I actually shared the strategy of planting good seeds. And then harvesting, I'm still kind of in the planting seeds section, I had set a goal in that first one of sponsoring 10 nonprofit events with my live entertainment. And then after that 10th, I will no longer be sponsoring things unless, you know, I make the judgment call that this is just way too good of an opportunity to pass up. And so I've been emailing different nonprofits offering my services as a live electric violinist and seeing who bites. And I want to share with you about the second one who bites we just confirmed on the schedule for December 7 and eighth, I was my sponsorship was accepted. For this Christmas. Like park it was a park called Four Mile Park in Denver that was hosting a Christmas event, they're turning their grounds into like a Christmas festival. And Santa is going to be there. And extreme strings electric violins is going to be there to December 7 and eighth, which is super exciting. So I was accepted to do that. Essentially, if if you have you ever been to one of those like Christmas parks or festivals where you know, everything is Christmas themed, they decorate it really nicely. They bring Santa. So that's what this is going to be there's going to be like Christmas shops, there's going to be some live music, there's going to be hot cocoa and mulled wine and that kind of thing. It'd be super fun. Actually, it's my first time playing this exact type of event. I've played Christmas parties in the past, but they've mainly been private events. So they have a bunch of different farm buildings around because it used to be a farm, I actually think it's still a working farm. And they are, you know, making it Christmas themed. And they've turned all the buildings into different like Christmas areas, and I get a building to myself plus some Christmas decorations. And I'm going to play both days, I think it's like from four to eight. So, you know, for one hour sets, like 45 minutes plus 15 minute break kind of thing. And I'm gonna play Christmas music, which I'm really excited. I love playing Christmas music, anyone else love Christmas music. And I am not getting paid for it. And that is a conscious decision. And I laid out exactly why a couple episodes ago. But to recap why you know, I am planting my gigs seeds I want people to know, like, and trust me first, because I'm still in new city, I've only been in Denver about three months now. And actually, you know, I haven't even played a note yet. And the sponsorship is already paying off, because I had a meeting with the general event coordinator for this December delights holiday fair. And she is a big event planner in the corporate events market in Denver. And so on our planning conversation, you know, we actually scheduled a Zoom meeting to discuss all the logistics, like loading time, where am I setting up? What kind of sound system do I need? And all that. And then at the end, is when I, you know, said, I asked her, you know, do you host other events throughout the year. And she was telling me about those too. And then I said if it's a good fit, you know, if you like what you hear, do you think that this would be a good fit for any of your events, too? Of course, not Christmas music, but you know, whatever is trending? And she said yes, of course like you know, let's let's see how things go here. But if it does go well, I'd love to have you on my list of musicians that I recommend for things, which if you're in the private events world, you know that that's the preferred vendor list and you want to be on that for as many people as possible. So that Zoom meeting was incredible because you know, basically was a promise that if this goes well I will be on their preferred vendor list. And there are you know, little literally hundreds of these types of event planners for corporate events, nonprofit events, wedding planners, and you know, even private parties in a given city. So it's just kind of networking with these and making getting on their lists. That is one of the keys to getting tons of really high paying gigs for free like you know I'm not paying a dime and advertising I'm just right now I'm donating my time as a performer which I don't think I need to be doing as much of. However, I'm really happy to do it because it gives me a great way to see all the new at least new to me venues in Denver that I haven't seen and experience you know really lightning fast networking with these high profile Denver event planners. Also, at this event, this event is open to the public. It is a ticketed event. So, but they do expect quite a high number of people going to it. And those people in the audience all get a chance to hear me and see me, which means I'm going to need to bring a heck of a lot of business cards. I actually asked the event planner for permission, "Can I lay out my business cards?" And she's like,"Yes, of course!". So this is a chance for literally like 1000s of people from the Denver area, to hear my act in a concentrated period, like a two night window, which, you know, it's really difficult to get that level of exposure, playing bar gigs, like you know about Max bar capacities, like probably between 105 100 People, don't quote me on that I'm not a bar or restaurant designer, or I don't play bar in restaurants that often. But I don't think you can get 1000s of people in an hour into a bar. Whereas this I do expect probably to see between 500 and 1000 people per hour, and I'm playing there eight hours. So that would be a great opportunity to get in front of a lot of people, many of whom are in a position where they might need my services in the future. For example, if there are New Year's Eve parties coming up, that might need a live entertainer, maybe they'll find their entertainer by going to this thing. If there are weddings, people that might even get engaged at the Christmas fair itself might say, hey, we just got engaged. Do you ever play weddings, or even if they've been engaged for a while, and you know, with the new year coming up, people really start to plan their weddings out in January, it's kind of like the year turns over. And all of a sudden, it's a race to the finish line with people's wedding planning. So they might be in that process, that thought process while they're going to this Christmas fair and say, Oh, this guy sounds awesome. I wonder if he plays weddings, take my card, and then reach out to me. So I'm really excited about this, I think it's gonna be a great event. And, you know, I hope that I am modeling for you the kind of massive action that you can take for your music career. I actually made a great post in our business tips for gigging musicians Facebook group yesterday about my five core philosophies. And maybe I'll do a podcast episode separately about those. But one of those is that it was actually my fifth one is that the only way to achieve success in your music career or in anything in life is by taking action. And so that's why I'm modeling this action for you to show you that you put in the time and the effort and it works, it pays off for you. You might want to join that Facebook group, it is turning into a private group, which all you have to do is request to join and answer a couple quick questions. And then I will let you in. And that's Facebook.com/giggingmusicians. And the group is called Business Tips for Gigging Musicians. I like to think of it as like a companion community to this podcast. So check that out. And if you want to see the exact emails that I've been sending out to these nonprofit partners, then I would invite you to check out YourFirstGig.com That is a program put on by me where I teach you step by step how I book all of my private events, including nonprofit events, I've got email templates in there that you can send out to them and the overall process of how to find these events in the first place, and what to do once you find them. So check that out at YourFirstGig.com Join our Facebook group Facebook.com/giggingmusicians and feel free to try the strategy out I really want to know if people are trying this stuff out because you know I'm showing you that it works. And if you don't enjoy playing gigs then don't try it out. But if you do enjoy playing them and you're open to trying new things getting out of your comfort zone because that's where the magic happens. Then give him a shot and let me know how it goes. You know posting the the gigging musician Facebook group like it's becoming the supportive community where we lift each other up, and I would just love to see you in there. Awesome. Well, thanks for listening to another episode of The Gigging Musician Podcast. Remember, you are just one gig away.