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Blog Entry 27 of 28 Audience Development Specialists
Do you want to learn how to build an audience for your events? During the week, join me on the adventures of audience development. It is my mission to help you to build a more loyal and satisfied audience!

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~AudienceDevelopment

Audience Development for all artists?

Contributed by: Shoshana Fanizza   on 9/26/2008

I happened to be at a meeting last week among some of the arts leaders of Boulder County. The question, what is audience development , was posed to the group. A few of the attendees mentioned cheeks in seats and the fact that they see audience development as only for performing arts organizations. One attendee exclaimed that it was not for the individual artists that only care about getting booked at a gallery or landing the next gig. I was very glad that these individuals spoke up. It gave me a chance to let them know that audience development is so much more than cheeks in seats and that it is beneficial for all artists.

For one, audience development goes way beyond cheeks in seats. It is about building relationships with people that in time will become fans of the art that you are presenting. People that become fans are more likely to invest their time in helping your art to succeed, either through steady patron support, donating money or volunteering their time.

Of course this does translate into selling more tickets and it is easy to see why audience development is important to performing arts organizations in that sense, but it also translates into financial success for the individual artist. Can you imagine how beneficial a fan base can be for an individual artist? Let me give you an example.

I recently was hired by a local musician since he wanted to build his audience. He was able to book gigs in locations that allowed for 60 people, but he desired to go beyond these venues to get bigger gigs and be booked by bigger venues. In order for these bigger venues to book him, he has to prove that he has a consistent fan base that will fill their bigger houses. After learning and using audience development techniques, he was able to go from 20 people to around 120 people (in two gigs), thus getting closer to being booked by bigger venues!

In terms of an artist wanting to be booked by a gallery. Wouldn't a gallery book an artist faster knowing that the artist had a big following? The gallery wants to ensure big crowds as well. The more popular an artist is, the easier the artist will be booked for their own show. Not to mention the fact that selling their art or finding funding or commissions for creating their art will become easier.

So, is audience development only for performing arts organizations that sell tickets? I hope in my short blog I have pointed out that all artists can benefit from audience development. Going beyond cheeks in seats and viewing audience development as developing relationships with people can make a huge difference for every type of artist. Audience development can benefit all artists in a positive way by helping them to gain a bigger fan base for their art, which will move them towards a brighter financial future and an expanded artistic life.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to sustain yourself by creating and sharing the art that you love? Audience Development can help make it a reality!

Until next time, may your audiences be happy and loyal ones, and if they are not, feel free to contact me!

~Shoshana~

Shoshana Fanizza is the founder of Audience Development Specialists. Her mission is to introduce organizations to their existing and potential audiences and to help them to form more rewarding relationships.

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Shoshana Fanizza

Boulder , CO

Shoshana Fanizza has posted 28 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 1/18/2008. Shoshana Fanizza 's average blog rating is 5.
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