Does anyone have advice for a foreign band looking for gigs in the US or Europe?

I have a lot of background in live event promotion and also dealing with investors. Really it depends on the type and size of the event you are wanting to promote. Sometimes sponsors are enough to get you going depending on what the target market it is and if the ideal audience for the concert matches the sponsors marketing goals. In the event you want to go that route, you'd need to set up some sponsorship packages etc. (also something I've done). Finding investors can be really tricky if you've never put on a concert before. Usually, It is best to get some sort of track record first- again, I'm not sure the actual context here, but generally you have to create an investible story (i.e.- The first time we did this we only had x amount of money to start with but we accomplished y- so if you will invest Z in the next event- we'll be able to make 10x as much money. Lastly, Im not sure who the big concert promoters around Ohio State, but I'd look into maybe doing a summer internship with AEG live or AC entertainment in Nashville, or find out who the local promoters are and try and learn from them. Happy to talk more anytime- Hope that helps. JS

Both answers so far are good. Especially the info about having great songs. I think it's so competitive out there that my suggestion to you is to focus on developing relationships with artists you believe in. If you write songs with them and they value your writing contribution, you will have a chance that they will cut your song or songs. Yes there are song pluggers and publishing deals. But ultimately it is about the steps you take to become good at what you do and to be proactively selling them in a way that fits your brand and isn't too pushy. And it's about becoming of value in the co-writing experience. Unless of course your songs are insanely amazing. Actually even when they are, you still need believers to want to cut them.

Hi, your question and your statement following are about two different things. A video recording and a webinar are not the same thing. A webinar is a live event that is recorded into video format. You invite people to attend, get them on a list, remind them to appear at the right time and place, then present live. Afterwards, your webinar is available as a video--though some media type conversion may be required--and you can use it as a "rebroadcasting". The second thing you described, in which you would be talking over a Powerpoint presentation to no one, is a marketing video. Yes, the end product is similar; however, the webinar is presented to live prospects. If you want to record a voiceover on top of slides, and then use this to present an offer at the end, this is called a Video Sales Letter or VSL. At any rate, you have all the stuff you need to make a marketing video or VSL. You may benefit from buying a microphone or headset with built-in mic if you don't already have one, as laptop microphones are generally pretty bad. Screen capture your slides and your voice, edit as needed, upload to Youtube, Vimeo or the platform of your choice. After this is done, you'll probably want to embed it into a web page with some sales copy around it and a Buy button. Then you'll need a way of driving traffic to that page, and probably a squeeze page and autoresponder to capture the email addresses of those subscribers. If you're going to run a webinar, you could use GoToWebinar, which is the sort of default standard (it's not great, but it has been around forever), another platform or even Google Hangouts On Air. After recording, you'll have the video file--convert from GTW with Handbrake or download from Youtube--to edit or embed as you wish. So figure out whether you want a live audience or not. If you do, then you'll need a way of attracting and signing up that traffic, and then presenting to them. If not, you can simply record your presentation. But either way, to make use of the recording afterwards you're going to have to have a way of driving traffic to it, and a way for people to buy from you...and that's probably going to be a web page.

I would suggest spending some money and cash hanging out at bars where some of these bands perform, Also, try to find a way backstage to talk to the musicians after they perform to do your research. If you're going after well-off musicians, contact their agents or band managers. They are always looking to make or save more money.

I am a Camtasia lover for years. Even on a Mac. My internet marketing friends all prefer it except for the few who like ScreenFlow.