What is Gig Salad?

What is this? Gig Salad is the North American talent directory of local and regional performers, speakers and entertainers, spanning the spectrum of entertainment genres. Gig Salad gives talent buyers, agents and event planners universal access to our directory of talent, searchable by name, category and location.

How much does it cost? Compared to other talent directory websites out there, a listing with Gig Salad is ridiculously cheap. Click here for pricing info.

What will I get with a membership? With every paid membership you'll receive a customized online "PromoKit" listing of your act containing your photos, info, set list, reviews, music samples and video files, and much (much) more.

Can I pay by PayPal or check? We have set up Gig Salad to take credit cards and debit cards, but if we can also accept checks, PayPal, money orders, cashier's checks and goats. Okay, maybe not goats, but just about everything else. To pay by PayPal: simply send your membership fee to steve@gigsalad.com along with these details in the memo box on PayPal: your name, act name, telephone, password, nearest major city, actual city, talent category, email address. Within 24 hours, we'll set your account up and you can customize your PromoKit from there. To pay by check, money order, etc: simply send your membership fee to along with these details typed out on a separate piece of paper: your name, act name, telephone, password, nearest major city, actual city, talent category, email addres to Gig Salad, 2733 East Battlefield Rd #105, Springfield, MO 65804. Within 24 hours, we'll set your account up and you can customize your PromoKit from there.

Why join?

If I can get a free page on a site like MySpace, why would I pay to join Gig Salad? Serious talent buyers typically do not search through pages of MySpace and "community" sites like that to hire entertainment for private or corporate functions. MySpace serves a "networking" need, and we provide a real-time exposure/gig booking need. We strongly recommend taking advantage of what MySpace offers, as well as posting video on YouTube and other such "viral promotion" sites, without neglecting direct response opportunities like the one we offer on Gig Salad.

Can you guarantee that I will get gigs if I join Gig Salad? We cannot guarantee that you'll be playing Carnegie Hall by this time next week if you join Gig Salad, but we do guarantee exposure for your talent. Our members have shared many great success stories with us and have gotten tremendous gigs and opportunities through their Gig Salad membership. It's a small investment to make for potentially huge rewards. Just one open door can get you into the feast!

I am in multiple bands... do you offer a discount if I sign up for more than one account? We sure do. Please call us at 866-788-GIGS (4447) to sign up multiple acts.

I am not computer proficient. Help!

Can someone at Gig Salad create my PromoKit for me? We have set up Gig Salad to be completely self-serve, but if the task of customizing your won PromoKit is daunting, we can help. Just send a cd with your materials (text in Word format, images, audio files, video files and a money order for $99) to Gig Salad, 2733 East Battlefield Rd #105, Springfield, MO 65804. The $99 fee covers a one-time PromoKit creation using the materials you send us by CD. Future updates to your PromoKit are billed hourly at $75/hr and can be paid online.

But I am not savvy enough to get my materials on cd... what do I do? Please call us at 877-247-1879 and we'll talk about what you can do.

What about search engine results?

I conducted a Google search for my specific talent category in my specific city... and I didn't see Gig Salad show up on the first page of results. If I join, will my category and location appear in Google's results? Most likely, yes. Generally speaking, a search for a particular talent category in a particular city will not show up if we do not yet have an act in that location on our roster. But search engine rules change all the time and we are working hard to get Gig Salad the very best placement possible.

We arrive at the top of many Google, Yahoo, MSN, AskJeeves, (and more) searches, and every day we refine and adjust our website to make it more search engine optimized. Our goal is to become the most widely recognized talent directory in North America, and we are working night and day toward this goal. That said, comparing us with other websites is not apples-to-apples, since we offer many features that other websites do not, and we are much more affordable than many other membership-based websites.

How else do you drive traffic to Gig Salad? We rely not only on Google, MSN, Yahoo and other search engines for traffic, but also on our print advertising (newspaper and magazines), online advertising, direct recommendations from Steiner Talent, sponsoring of events within venues, and our relationships with talent buyers and party planners. Rest assured, we're working very hard to make Gig Salad a place where both talent buyers and our members benefit GREATLY.

What about commissions or finder's fees?

Are there commissions or finder's fees when I am booked through Gigsalad.com? Unlike other online directories, Gig Salad DOES NOT ask for or charge you commissions or fees when people find you through Gig Salad and contact you directly, either by phone, through our gig inquiry system, or through your own website. Likewise, we do not charge a commission or fee to the talent buyer when you broker your own dates. However, if you would like us to broker your date and handle the transaction on your behalf, please contact us, and we can act as a middle broker to oversee the contractual process for a commission payable by the talent buyer.

Can I purchase advertising?

Can I purchase an ad on Gig Salad? We offer advertising space on the home page of Gig Salad, as well as within an area of the PromoKit that our members see when they login. Please call us at 866-788-GIGS for pricing. We also offer a "national listing" option where our members can create an ad for additional exposure. Please visit the promotion and advertising page for more information.

Do you offer representation?

I need talent representation and am looking for an agent. Can an agent at Gig Salad represent me? At Gig Salad, we do not seek to represent talent, as far as the traditional definition of representation is concerned. We represent talent in another way: We give entertainers and speakers the tools to create their own online Promo Kit, complete with links to a store to create personalized gear, sell their own CDs, upload video and music files and have access to real gigs that come to Gig Salad from throughout the United States and Canada. View the representation page for more information.

 

Why haven't I joined Gig Salad yet? Because you're still reading this. And that's okay, but now it's time to get your gig on. Click here to join now!