Booking Yourself In The Right Venue

If you are just starting out, and you need 100 bodies to make the venue happy, DO NOT TAKE THE GIG!!!

Find a smaller venue.
Work the open mics.
Build up audience.

Band after band after band keep trying to push themselves into a bigger venue because it's "cooler" when they simply don't have the draw to play there.

Play it smart: Book yourself in the smallest goddamn venue you can. When your fans are literally over-flowing the joint, move up to a venue just big enough to hold them.

Your profit margin will be higher.
Your fans will think you're a bigger deal, cuz it's a full house.
The venue owners will be CALLING YOU instead of ignoring your calls.

Granted, it's a smaller place calling you, but look at it this way:
Small venue that *WANTS* you bad:
They call you, you book a show. 5 minutes

Big venue that you can't fill:
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. Hey, lucky day! The agent wasn't on the line already and picked up!!! He can't book you, though, because he has already filled all the plum opening slots with his favorite bands. 5 minutes.
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. Hey, lucky day! The agent wasn't on the line already and picked up!!! He can't book you, though, because he has already filled all the plum opening slots with his favorite bands. 5 minutes.
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. 5 minutes
You call. Hey, lucky day! The agent wasn't on the line already and picked up!!! *AND* he's even got a split-bill to fill out, and you'd be okay on it, but you've only got two weeks to promote. 5 minutes.
[Gee, does this scenario look familiar? Hmmmm?]

[sarcasm setting=slight]
Oddly enough, with only two weeks to promote, you have even fewer fans at the big venue than you would at the small venue you booked two months in advance. Go figure.
[/sarcasm]

Meanwhile, you've spent 3 *HOURS* to get the gig, *LOST* money for the venue that didn't want you that badly in the first place, *LOST* money for you and your band, and all-around, had more stress, frustration, and aggravation than is healthy.

Now, look: I'm not saying don't take a cool opening slot for a band that will fill the place and build your draw, buy your CDs, and advance your career. I'm not even saying you shouldn't do the 3-hour "lose money" scenario *SOMETIMES* -- Enough to keep yourself on the "radar" of the booking agent at that venue for when you *DO* have draw. But for Pete's sake, this had better be the exception for how you run your career, not the rule. If you're doing this all the time, find a smaller venue to bother.