You've spent hundreds of hours developing your craft, now make it easy for booking agents to find you.

We've all heard the rags-to-riches stories of garage bands who suddenly are catapulted into the spotlight. These overnight success stories depend largely on having a marketable product and being in the right place at the right time. The product (your band) we'll leave up to you. Practice, practice, practice and a clear idea on your image and target audience will take care of that.

Now you need a business card to hand out to prospective clients, such as booking agents, promoters, venue owners, record labels, music stores, and the like. Here are some suggestions of what to include on your card:

• The name of your band. Set this in bold type so it stands out. Use color (red and blue are popular) to make it stand out even more.
• The URL (address) of the band web site. A link to your band's email account should be on the web site.
• The email address for your band. You can get a free address from Yahoo! or Hotmail. Be sure to check it frequently and respond to inquiries right away.
• Contact phone number. Not everyone uses email, so be to include your regular (landline or cellular) telephone number. Hopefully this number has voice mail and you check it frequently.
• Slogan or motto. This usually appears under the band name. For example, a Queen tribute band might use "We will rock you!" as their slogan.
• Contact person's name. This is usually the band leader.
• If you've signed an exclusive booking arrangement, include the name of your booking agency. However, if your agency contract allows you to also find gigs on your own, then don't include the agent's information (unless you like paying the agent's fee for gigs that you find).
• You may include a small photo of the band, but if you lose your singer or lead guitarist, you'll be stuck with a bunch of outdated cards. Think about including a piece of clip art instead.
• Mailing address? Don't use the address of your practice studio, unless you carry theft insurance. Use a P.O. box instead. Or leave this off the card, especially if you have a web site.
• Should you list the names of your band mates? Probably not, unless you want to reprint your cards every time you add or drop a member. Instead, instruct your band members to write their names on the reverse side of the card when they hand them out.
• Consider using a background image (in color) to make your card stand out from cards used by competing bands.