Virtual services aren’t a new concept, but they’re certainly a growing trend amidst the stay-at-home orders and restrictions on public events. Many performers and entertainers are finding virtual events to be a great way to make up for lost gigs during this lull in the economy. Offering virtual services is a great addition to your business, but it’s important to learn all you can about making them successful. We spoke to several of GigSalad’s most active members and put together this handy guide for offering virtual services.
Before the gig
As with any gig, preparation is important. Since you’re relying so much on technology, a virtual event may need even more attention to make sure things run smoothly.
Know the platforms
There are lots of platforms you can choose from, but we’ll discuss the most popular choices below. These are likely to be most well-known to your clients, too, which will make things easier for both of you.
Zoom
As a free conferencing software, Zoom has definitely risen above the competition. While it does have a 40-minute time limit on its free service, that’s usually plenty of time for a virtual event. You can record the calls and share them later if you’d like. It also allows for customizable backgrounds, which can be fun! But most importantly, it boasts HD video and audio.
However, if you’re a musician, you may have trouble with its features that are aimed toward video conferencing – meaning it attempts to block out noise such as music. This option may be best for virtual events looking for character visits, birthday telegrams, or motivational speakers.
Lastly, Zoom allows you to see up to 49 participants at once (100 total) which makes it ideal for virtual events with large groups.
Learn more about Zoom.
Facebook Live
Another free and well-known option is Facebook Live. Participants can join the Facebook Live call via link, even if they don’t have a Facebook account. You won’t be able to make this private, so keep that in mind if it’s of concern to you or your client.
GigSalad member, violinist Celeste Vee, prefers this platform for her virtual gigs. She says, “Facebook Live is my favorite because the audio quality is pretty consistent and clear.” This option may be best if you’re a musician. It has been a great host to lots of celebrity “living room concerts” lately!
Learn more about Facebook Live.
Skype
As one of the first services to offer video conferences, most people are familiar with this platform. While it does lack some of the features of Zoom, it’s very easy to set up. GigSalad member Santa Ed Taylor prefers Skype because “I like being able to record my appearance. Skype makes that very easy.” Skype will store your recorded meetings for up to 30 days, which allows you and your client to download and save it if you’d like.
If you (or your client) find it complicated to download new software, you might consider Skype Meet Now which allows participants to join with a click – no new applications are necessary.
Learn more about Skype.
Check your equipment
When preparing to delve into the world of virtual events, you should take a moment to check over your audio and visual equipment. We’ve all experienced the frustration of a choppy online meeting and you certainly don’t want a paying client to have that same annoyance.
GigSalad member, singing guitarist Christopher Wooley, advises to “try to make sure your audio quality is as good as possible. I’ve been taking a direct output for vocals and guitar straight from my amplifier into my iPhone. The audio quality is exceptional.”
Singing guitarist Christopher Wooley has been doing living room concerts for years.
Celeste Vee agrees. She says, “You can’t hear what your clients hear. What your camera/video equipment picks up is sometimes wildly different from what you hear, so it’s really important to have someone else listen to the end product so you know how to adjust. You have to know ahead of time how to compensate and how to set your levels.”
We recently wrote a post on 5 Steps to Get Set Up for Online Performances, and we believe the most essential pieces of equipment include:
- Good lighting. Check out this well-reviewed ring light for under $30.
- HD Webcam. A word of wisdom, the webcam on your laptop is not ideal. Techradar put together a helpful article on choosing a great webcam and where you can buy them.
- Great microphone. Sound quality is where to invest. If you’re using your laptop for virtual performances or webcasting, Blue Microphones offer useful USB solutions.
Create your space
Setting up your background or your set is an important consideration when you’re participating in a virtual event. You don’t want to appear unprofessional by sitting on your unmade bed while you deliver a singing telegram, or reading a fairy tale with a pile of dirty dishes behind you.
The main thing is to be sure your space is clean and free of clutter. “A blank wall works well. I have a plain interior brick wall that I use and my clients have appreciated it,” says Celeste Vee. “I have had one who requested a cool virtual background and that’s easy to do on Zoom.”
If your performance is aimed at children, you may want to consider dressing things up a bit if possible. Santa Ed says, “In the beginning, I just made the visits from my office with a webcam. I now have a set with a Northpole Workshop backdrop, an illuminated lantern, adjustable LED panel lights, and more.” He also thinks you can work with whatever location you’re in with a little creativity: “I’ve made video calls (mostly FaceTime) from neighborhoods, coffee shops, and in front of stores. I just work the location into what I’m talking about.”
Performing on camera can be a bit different than your live show, so think about how to set your camera angle. Play around with different distances, lenses, and angles to find one that best fits your performance. Celeste Vee suggests, “In general, I’ve found that it’s best to place my camera where they can see me from the waist up. It’s all about finding the right compromise between allowing them to see facial expressions and still giving yourself room to move and entertain.”
Violinist Celeste Vee has learned how to make virtual events successful.
Confirm the details
When performing at a virtual event, there are some things to consider that you might not normally pay attention to. For example, be sure to verify what time zone your client is in. Since you can perform from anywhere, you may be getting leads from people outside of your normal performance radius. Avoid awkward late (or early) calls by confirming this ahead of time.
Be sure to confirm which service you’ll be using and get the meeting link from your client. GigSalad member, Ellen Thweatt (of A Little Princess) advises, “It’s important to get a head-start and log in ahead of time. You never know if a service might be temporarily unavailable or if a client doesn’t quite understand how things work.”
Since performing on-screen may add a bit more pressure to the conversation or performance, do your best to gather as much information as you can about what your client likes. Chris Wooley advises, “Learn as much as you can about the client’s musical wishes and deliver a happy set. Keep the sad songs for your own couch.”
Santa Ed echoes this advice and says, “For virtual events, I usually have more information about the people – both adults and children. The more I know about the person, the more I have to talk about with them.”
Santa Ed has years of experience with virtual visits.
Practice, practice, practice
If it’s not clear by now, virtual events are much different than live events and can come with a multitude of unexpected issues. While you may still have some glitches, spend some time ironing those out ahead of time. Set everything up the exact way you would for your event, then recruit a friend or family member to be your audience. Try asking the following questions to get some valuable feedback on your virtual performance:
Just because you’ve done a Facebook Live show doesn’t mean it’ll translate to Zoom. You may have called your mom on FaceTime hundreds of times, but you may not know how to successfully pull off a Skype event. Don’t wait until the day of the show – give yourself lots of time to get the kinks worked out! There’s no such thing as too much practice.
During the gig
The big moment has finally arrived! When you’re ready to begin your virtual performance, we have a few more tips to make sure things go smoothly.
Avoid interruptions
When we go to the movie theater, the first thing we’re told is to turn off our electronic devices. Be sure to apply the same principle to your virtual events! Being at home means you have lots of distractions around you, but take some time to remove them.
If you have pets, roommates, or children, have them go to a different room while you perform. Put a note on your doorbell asking delivery people to avoid ringing it. If you’re using a computer, make sure it (and other necessary devices) are fully charged or plugged into a power source.
Lastly, switch your devices to do-not-disturb mode. Celeste Vee shares her cringe-worthy moment when she forgot to turn her phone to airplane mode: “I was in the middle of a virtual gig and a friend tried to FaceTime me. Since I was performing along with a track running on my Mac, it interrupted the performance completely and the music stopped. So amateur and embarrassing!”
Pro tip: Encourage your audience to mute themselves during the performance to avoid side conversations and feedback. They can always turn their microphones back on after it’s over to applaud and interact.
Make the call
One of the frequent questions we get about virtual events is “Who calls who?” We suggest that you work with your client to decide on who starts the call during an online performance. That being said, most of our GigSalad members prefer to be the ones to initiate it so they’re taking control of the event from the beginning. Even though virtual events may be a new-ish concept to performers and clients alike, your clients are still looking to you for guidance. Santa Ed says, “I almost always call them. This allows me to be 100% ready for the call.”
Keep clients engaged
Sometimes the screen doesn’t quite translate as well as an in-person event does. This may require you to change things up a bit for your virtual performances. Being a captivating performer is always important, but here are some tips for keeping your on-screen clients engaged.
Musicians and singers
You might be used to playing several full-length songs with a few breaks in between, but that may not work as well with virtual events. Celeste Vee advises, “Keep your songs short; I usually keep them around 2-3 minutes each. You rarely need to perform an entire song. Be sure to eliminate awkward gaps in between. We’re event entertainers so we don’t usually talk much between songs, and my performances are seamless from song to song. This has been extremely popular with my virtual clients and they always compliment me on how well I keep their attention.”
Keeping your energy up is also important since you’re the sole focus of the event. Having a screen between you and your audience can put up a barrier to the vibe that’s usually created with live music. Help break it down with lots of smiles and positive energy. Chris Wooley sums it up with, “Medleys or shorter versions of songs are fine, and practice and preparation are crucial. But the bigger truth is what Maya Angelou said: Nobody will remember what you did or what you said, but they’ll always remember the way you made them feel.”
Visual artists
Artists who offer services like dancing, magic, or puppetry may have an easier time transitioning to virtual events. It’s a bit like watching TV for your audience, so as long as you’re doing something interesting, they’ll likely be entertained! That being said, it’s not as easy to keep their attention as you might with a live event, so consider trimming your performance or sets to move things along a bit faster. Give them small bites of entertainment rather than a long performance that may cause your audience to drift.
Magician Tony Borders has learned how to offer his show via YouTube.
GigSalad member Tony Borders of Birthday Magic and Puppets has recently been offering his magic and puppet shows via YouTube. He advises, “Talk to the camera. If there are kids, ask them to respond. Use visual aids and move closer to the camera at times.” Tony also prefers to record his performance ahead of time so he can re-use it for several events and have more control over the recording. To keep things interesting, he suggests “Have your camera person push ‘pause’ and change the distance or angle.”
Characters and impersonators
Ask questions! If you’re doing a live chat with a child (or adult) and want to keep them engaged, it’s important to have some questions ahead of time. You might dig in a bit with the event planner and learn about the guest of honor’s favorite movies, hobbies, food, and more.
Santa Ed says, “I love asking questions. For example, if I know their favorite Christmas movie I might say, ‘Do you know what my favorite Christmas movie is?’ and they say, ‘No. What is it?’ and I say their favorite movie. Of course, then they say, ‘That my favorite, too!’ And I’ll follow up with, ‘Really? You and I are a lot alike! Do you like making things and giving gifts to people?'”
Ellen Thweatt agrees that asking questions is a great way to engage her little clients, but having a backup plan is necessary, too. “It’s important to have different options for activities. If they get bored with one activity, like storytime, you can quickly move on to something else, like planning a princess ball.”
Ellen from A Little Princess knows how to keep little ones entertained via screen.
Remember that as a character, you’re working to embody that character fully for the person you’re talking with. Note the little things, like changing your display name on Zoom or Skype to “Santa Claus” or “Princess Snowball.”
Set the right price
One of the benefits of a virtual gig is that you don’t have to go anywhere. Most of our vendors have elected to offer lower pricing for virtual events because they’ve cut down on travel costs and setup time. While this may mean you have to do more virtual events than live events, this option can still help performers get through the lull in the industry.
To figure out your own pricing, we’d suggest charging the cost of 1 hour of your normal rate. Most virtual events aren’t close to an hour long, but it still covers the time you’ll need to set up, rehearse, and prepare for the event. Without having to travel, you should hopefully be making a fair amount for each booking.
Celeste Vee looks at it this way: “I definitely don’t charge as much for virtual events. For live events, I spend a lot of time driving to the gig, loading in, setting up my equipment, tearing down, loading out and driving home. Now I just put on my makeup and walk into my studio and perform! I can’t personally justify charging the same for a 30-minute show as I would for an entire evening.”
Thinking about everyone being affected by the recent shutdowns, Chris Wooley agrees, “I adjust my pricing for these types of events. So many people have lost their jobs, it makes sense to make these affordable.”
Promote your services
Virtual events are the growing trend right now, so it’s crucial that you market yourself as someone who offers virtual services. Check out the following posts to get started with your marketing efforts:
Your past clients are another great source of marketing. They may be looking for ways to shake up corporate meetings or didn’t know they could still celebrate their kiddo’s birthday on-screen. Reach out to your previous bookings and let them know about your new flexible service options!
If you have clients who need to postpone or have asked to cancel their bookings, you might take the opportunity to offer a virtual alternative to canceling completely.
As we see the trend for virtual events going up, we hope that our members are able to pivot their services and have lots of successful bookings going forward. We’re doing all we can to promote these new virtual services and keep the event industry moving forward. If you have ideas or suggestions for future posts, please let us know. We’d love to hear from you! Another huge thank you to Celeste, Ellen, Ed, Chris, and Tony for their help in putting this article together.
Megan is the Director of Customer Experience at GigSalad and has gained 9+ years of insight on what makes a great event on both sides of the booking process. Her favorite things include books, true crime podcasts, coffee, hiking, puns, and making people laugh.
Great article! Thank you for allowing me to contribute. I hope it inspires and offers some useful tips. We’re all in this together!
Good learning piece for performers, however, I do caricatures so I’m faced with a different issue, getting the art to the recipients. Maybe what we would need to do is get a snapshot of individuals & where to mail art.
Excellent! Can you suggest ways to sell your product while doing an online performance?
Hi Celeste,
As popular as ZOOM has become I really wanted a way to present musical performances via this platform. As you alluded to, I did run into problems with sound quality due to the noise filters. But, for some reason, prerecorded video performances seem to have much more success.
Not sure why, and to your earlier points it pays to test playback levels before your actual ‘performance’. You can start a new ZOOM meeting, begin to record, share your screen, selecting your video player to share (which should already be cued up with your video selection). ZOOM allows you to record without connecting to anyone else to the meeting. After you end the meeting, playback of the MP4 meeting recording will let you know if your playback volume & other levels are set correctly.
Most video players allow you to create a Playlist so you can toggle back and forth between you live and sharing your video player ‘performances’. I use this process for my Virtual Cocktail Parties and add in music trivia polls using the ZOOM polling function to mix things up a bit.
I appreciate the info here….as a classical musician, all my gigs with events, churches & concerts are all cancelled! would so dearly love to offer virtual events, however, I do not currently own any of the equipment listed, so it would take about $500 investment, plus an I-pad would be better than my 10 lb laptop, so possibly 1500 investment, plus many hours of un-boxing, learning, setting up best spot in my home…. quite a lot of fuss, and then to make as you suggested, LESS money since it is “only” a virtual gig? that gives me pause, great pause.
p.s. I would be better off if I could find someone who would design a system to work best for me, and assist with set-up and a bit of training, however, that is not going to happen with current “stay-at-home” orders.
I’m a bit surprised and disappointed at the advice here for musicians. I’m a little surprised that they are advocating sound from input on mobile devices as a quality option for clients to spend money on. Nothing less than a direct signal from a proper mic and audio interface is good enough quality for a customer to be spending money on. You don’t have to break the bank for this. USB mics don’t deliver a great sound either because the built in preamps are not professional. These things are totally fine for amatuers and hobbyists but I’m really diappointed that they are advocating this kind of audio quality for people to spend money on. It seems unethical. Get a basic mic with a pattern appropriate for your instrument, can be an SM57 or 58, little audient interface and even a free program like audacity or reaper. OBS is free as well, and you can stream the signal from your DAW into your OBS broadcasting software. If you go as cheap as possible that’s $200. If you don’t have the budget for that right now, I get it, everyone has to start somewhere. But it’s a small investment when our clients pay more than that for a single gig, they really deserve something at least minimum professional. They trust us for that and we need to deliver.