Here’s a great idea for building a local following. If you live in an area that has smaller live music venues then you probably have local music papers, magazines or websites that cover them (local newspapers will also do if no publications like this exist where you live). If this is the case then you can easily begin to start getting your name recognized at no cost with one simple technique.

Find the publications that cover the local entertainment scene and see which venues advertise in them. Chances are, many of the venues will have ads that list who’s playing there for that week or month. These are the clubs that you want to focus on booking. Regular gigs at these places will get your name in the paper often and in the minds of the people who check these ads for their weekend plans. Seeing your name over and over again makes it recognizable. After seeing your name in one or two ads week after week, people will begin to take notice and may check you out (live or online) just to see what you’re about. If you’re lucky, you may even get in the sightline of a local music journalist and get an article done about you.

For this to work you must play on a regular and frequent basis. Do that and you’ll have a much better chance of building a local following and from there you can build outward.