More than likely you have heard of the term “Street Team” or “e-Team” and know what they are. Well for those of you haven’t heard of them and don’t know what they do allow me to explain.
What Is A Street Team?
Put simply a street team / e-team is usually a group of fans of your band who are willing to help spread the word about your band and music on the “street” or on the internet hence the name.
A team is usually tasked with the simple job of handing out band related goodies to friends , family and other music fans etc which usually includes CD’s , stickets , pins or concessional flyers or maybe even free tickets.
Why would they do this you ask? Well usually these street / e-team members are given a reward for their effort in promoting your band name. Such as free tickets , exclusive band merchandise or access to a special area of your website allowing them download unreleased songs / wallpapers / ringtones etc which will keep most fan’s happy as chips for a long time.
However, has good as street teams are technology as usual has brought about a change in street teams and that is the “e-team”
What Is The Concept Of An E-Team?
An e-team is pretty much the exact same thing as a street with the only difference being e-team’s (as you’ve probably guessed by the name) mainly promote your band over the internet.
Alot of fans who would be too timid or possibly lack the people skills required to be an effecient street team member however once online they can be a completely different creature and are eager to promote your band online.
When funds are low an e-team is an extremely cost effective way of promoting your releases , gigs and general band name as all they need to keep themselves motivated is freebies such as:
– free tickets
– free CD’s
– free downloads
– free stickers
What Exactly Will These Teams Do?
Some quick ideas to get your street / e-team going include:
CROWD BUILDING
If you give a street / e-team member 1 or 2 free tickets to your gig in all liklihood they’ll bring some friends along. The free ticket doesn’t cost the band any money and they’re friends will still have to buy a ticket into the gig.
Better having four people in a gig with two of them having paid rather than those four not going at all.
RADIO PROMOTION
If your releasing a single a street / e-team can be crucial to getting you that good bit more airplay.
All you have to do is list the special text numbers that different radio shows have (make sure you only include the numbers of stations that you’ve serviced with your CD as it can divert effort away from the main goal). It’d also be best to list these numbers in the special access area for your street / e-teamers.
If your involved in a poll somewhere online (some radio shows do online votes for “pick of the week” etc) then post the link up for your e-teamers in the special access section so they can all vote for you.
You could even provide a link so that your street / e-team can download the single for free so that they can share your new single with friends on their i-pods etc , they’ll more than likely share out the single which means more will hear the song, get into your band and might buy your next one of go to your next gig.
ONLINE PROMOTION
Make sure your e-team is constantly including links to your bands music everywhere they are online. If they are on forums why not provide them with a small image banner so that they can include it in their signatures (though it’s best to make sure that it’s not too large / loud in colour as alot of forums have rules on image sizes & colours etc)
If they are on MySpace or Bebo then make sure you’ve set up a band page and that all your e-team is linked to your page and has your music added to their flash player on these sites.
Get your news sent to any of the music sites in ireland too, Goldenplec, Drop-D, Thumped, Cluas, State, Analogue
These guys will put up the gig or release news and if you send them the music or invite them to the gigs you may get a review out of it too.
The Golden Rule
Remember to give your street / e-team enough incentives so they keep promoting your music. Try to come up with some fresh ideas every now and again as well.
Finally street / e-teams DO cost money to run but they are also very cost effective and if managed correctly can pay their dividends ten times over for a band.
Think about it if you won’t invest in yourself and your music what makes you think someone else will?
Damien Gill (for Goldenplec.com), © 2009
UN-AUTHORISED REPRODUCTION, COPYING, RE-POSTING PROHIBITED WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION
DISCLAIMER: While the author (Damien Gill) has written this article from professional experiences as well as taking all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of this article, such information is not guaranteed. Therefore the author and Mantra Music will not be held responsible for any individual decisions taken as a direct / in-direct result of this article or any information contained within this article which is intended for general information purposes only