The GigSalad Customer Happiness team receives a wide variety of questions daily about how GigSalad works and how to get the most out of a membership. Over the years, we have heard many of the same questions. Here are the answers to 15 of the most frequently asked questions from our members!
- Why should I have a paid membership?
- Why do I pay a service fee and a membership fee?
- Why can’t I change my own act name?
- Can I collect a deposit only and then collect the balance at the event?
- How and when do I get paid?
- I like my own contracts. Why should I book on your platform?
- Can I report an offsite booking?
- How can I get more leads?
- How can I close more bookings?
- Why aren’t my potential clients responding?
- Can I remove a review from my profile?
- How do I add a video to my profile?
- I receive a lot of requests that are too far away. How can I only get leads from my local area?
- Can I have more than one profile?
- I am receiving leads, but I’m not getting any email notifications from GigSalad. What’s wrong?
1. Why should I have a paid membership?
There are many benefits to a paid membership on GigSalad! Primarily, a Pro or Featured membership provides you with more visibility on GigSalad and an increased chance for leads and bookings. On average, we find that Featured members receive 20-28 times more leads than those with a free membership.
Paid members also pay a lower service fee (2.5%) upon being booked, receive priority in the search results, and have the ability to view clients’ phone numbers.
To view a list of the benefits and differences between the Pro and Featured membership, check out our join page.
2. Why do I pay a service fee and a membership fee?
The service fee and the membership fee serve two different purposes. With a paid membership, you are paying for the added benefits of a paid membership and increase your exposure on the website. The service fees cover the costs associated with collecting and distributing payments and general maintenance of the booking platform. For members at the Pro and Featured level, the service fee is 2.5%, which is lower than most popular credit card processing fees.
3. Why can’t I change my own act name?
For quality control reasons, the act name is one of the only things on your profile that you cannot change on your own. To change your act name, contact us. A member of the Customer Happiness team will make the change for you and let you know when it has been completed.
4. Can I collect a deposit only and then collect the balance at the event?
To provide a simple one-time payment process for the client and to guarantee that you receive all of the money you are owed, clients will always pay the entire balance upfront when booking you on GigSalad. When sending a quote, you select the deposit portion and the balance portion to receive. The deposit will be sent prior to the event, and the balance will be delivered after the event takes place. This way, you will never have to worry about collecting money at the event. Instead, you can focus on sharing your talent and doing what you love!
5. How and when do I get paid?
If you’re located in the U.S., you can receive your deposit and balance payments via PayPal or Direct Deposit. Canadian members will receive payments via check in the mail (but direct deposit is coming soon!). The timeframe for your payout will be different depending on which payout method you select. Direct deposit is the fastest option available! View a list of the time frames for the various payout methods.
6. I like my own contracts. Why should I book on your platform?
By booking through GigSalad, you will receive guaranteed balance payments, cancellation protection, smooth workflow, fast payout options, scam detection, and more. Booking on-site also increases the number of future leads you’ll get. GigSalad recognizes members who actively book gigs through the site, respond quickly to clients, and receive positive reviews. Members meeting these qualifications are identified with a Top Performer banner displayed on their profile, which increases their exposure and helps them stand out from the competition.
Collecting and displaying client feedback is easier than ever when you book through the GigSalad platform. We follow up with your client and request reviews on your behalf, freeing you up to focus on booking your next gig.
7. Can I report an offsite booking?
While we hope our members find our booking platform to be convenient and useful, we understand that sometimes it makes more sense to handle a booking off of the site. Perhaps the client cannot make the full payment upfront, or maybe you just have your own process and contract you like to use. In those cases, you can still come back to GigSalad, pay a small service fee, and mark that gig as booked to get all the benefits of a verified booking.
You can read instructions for marking a gig as booked here.
8. How can I get more leads?
If you are at the free level, consider upgrading to a Pro or Featured membership to improve your visibility. However, there are a few more ways you can increase your chances for leads without upgrading.
- Display professional media and information. You can increase your chances for leads by having a completed and professional profile. Upload your best photos, videos, or audio tracks, and include a well-crafted biography explaining what you can provide.
- Request reviews. If you have very few reviews or none at all, we strongly encourage you to request reviews from past clients. You can request reviews using your profile’s Request a Review tool.
- Book on GigSalad. For leads that are sent through our automated system, onsite bookings are taken into consideration when deciding which vendors will receive the requests. By booking through our platform, you can increase your chances of more leads.
- Become a Top Performer. Top Performers are members who respond to 80% of their leads within 24 hours, have a 4.5-star rating or higher, and have booked at least one gig on-site during the assessment period. These members receive priority in the search results over other vendors in their category and membership level and have an increased chance for leads and bookings. Learn more about how to become a Top Performer.
9. How can I close more bookings?
Naturally, you will not be a great fit for every request that you receive on GigSalad. However, if you feel that you’ve not landed gigs for which you would be perfect, you may need to make some adjustments.
The first step to landing a gig is to have a great-looking profile. High-quality media, great reviews, and information about your services/talent are a must. The way you respond to each lead is also crucial. When responding to leads, remember that individuals often request quotes from many vendors at once. They may not remember who you are or may have even submitted the request without looking at each profile. Your initial response should explain who you are and what you do. Include a YouTube/Vimeo link or audio and photo attachments to show them why you would be a great fit for their event. We have some great tips on how to write a great sales pitch to help you close more bookings, too.
If you would like more personalized advice regarding your profile and how to close more bookings, please feel free to reach out to us for advice by emailing help@gigsalad.com.
10. Why aren’t my potential clients responding?
Potential clients may not respond for a variety of reasons. They may be considering their options, the event may have been canceled, or they may have decided to forgo entertainment/services altogether. No matter the reason, we know that not receiving responses from people who send you a lead can be incredibly frustrating.
We’ve implemented reminder emails and status update requests to increase the response rates of potential clients. We will be continually looking for ways to improve our messaging system to help you receive more responses. To reduce the time you’re spending responding, we recommend creating saved messages. This will allow you to quickly respond by selecting your pre-written messages from a drop-down menu.
11. Can I remove a review from my profile?
You cannot remove a review from your profile. However, if you receive a review that is obscene, abusive, or fraudulent, you may submit a dispute to have it removed. Our team will look over your dispute along with the review, messages between you and the client, and the booking agreement to reach a conclusion.
If the review is deemed valid, we strongly encourage you to add a public response to the review. You can share your side of the event and display to potential clients how you have worked to resolve the issues. Often, an apologetic and genuine response to a negative review can go a long way in showing your professionalism. Check out more about responding to both good and bad reviews.
12. How do I add a video to my profile?
To add a video to your profile, you will first need to upload the video to YouTube or Vimeo. Once uploaded, add the video by entering the Video URL in the videos section of your profile.
13. I receive a lot of requests that are too far away. How can I only get leads from my local area?
You can edit your preferred travel distance at any time to customize where you receive leads. To adjust your travel preferences, go to Edit PromoKit, Lead Preferences, and then select Location and Travel. From here, you can use our dynamic map to define your service area by drive time, driving distance, or an aerial radius. You can even customize your settings for each category you are in if you have services with unique travel requirements.
14. Can I have more than one profile?
Yes, you can have more than one profile on GigSalad. However, one user may not have more than one free profile and the profiles must be advertising different services. If you are advertising two separate services (such as a Cover Band and a DJ), you are welcome to create multiple profiles on GigSalad.
If you are wanting to advertise the same services in more than one region, you can purchase additional locations for your profile. The cost of an additional location is prorated based on the amount of time left in your current membership term, with an additional 20% off.
15. I am receiving leads, but I’m not getting any email notifications from GigSalad. What’s wrong?
Unfortunately, in some cases, your email provider may consider our emails to be spam and send them to your Junk folder or block them altogether. One way to try and prevent this from happening is to whitelist our email addresses, which will add our emails to an approved list. The following email addresses should be whitelisted: noreply@gigsalad.com, gigs@gigsalad.com, and leads@gigsalad.com.
If adding our emails to your contacts does not work, you may need to contact your ISP to see what the issue could be. Also, if you ever mark our emails as spam yourself, this will cause your email to be blacklisted, meaning no more emails will be sent to that address. If you fear this may have happened to you, please contact us.