[alanross]

I have found that the minute you allow someone to pay you less than you're worth, it is an uphill battle to get what you deserve. Hold firm to the idea that you deserve $200/per show and, if you have to, be willing to walk a way from a job.

It means that you'll have to do a little more knocking on doors to get your foot into other bars and nightclubs, but eventually - if you provide a high quality show - they will beat a path to your door.

The hardest thing to do is turn down a job, but if they can't pay you what you require, you MUST WALK AWAY. To do anything less than stand up for what you need, sends a signal to the person with whom you're negotiating that they have the upper hand, not you.

The truth is, WE as Karaoke Hosts are in the driver's seat. We can do the nightclub circuit and do very well in that venue, but they need us more than we need them. They cannot find a cheaper source of revenue than what we provide, but we can get much better pay from venues like nursing homes, retirement villages, planned communities. These venues provide a different source of revenue and usually allow the Karaoke host to do much more than babysit a bunch of drunks all night long.

Is there even one Karaoke Host out there that doesn't love to sing and perform? I doubt it. I've never met one. We do this because we love the performance side of the show, enjoy the people we love and tolerate the rest of them. Resort communities, retirement villages and nursing homes are purely performance driven shows. It's almost entirely impossible to get nursing home people up to sing - and you wouldn't want to try. But they are the most appreciative audience you can find.

It means doing some more work... putting together a few compilation disks of songs you're able to sing; tailoring the shows to the particular audience; learning how to perform one song after the other in a rythym that flows and keeping your volume levels a little lower. But the rewards are wonderful.

You usually get paid better per show (although it's hard to get a weekly gig), you make fantastic contacts for bigger and better venues, you meet the families of people from whom you can get other great parties or even contacts to venues you haven't even discovered. AND you get to perform for an audience that will love you and appreciate that you're there for them.

Of course, if your strong suit is heavy metal, I would stay away from the nursing homes, but if you can create a set of songs that relates well to an older audience - you can be the cat's meow.

- Alan