The Birth of Shrader Promotions LLC

Hello my friends!

A question I get asked frequently, due to the broad nature of my work, is “what specifically does Shrader Promotions LLC do and How did you get started?”.

First and foremost, we are an event production and promotion company focusing on the use of influencer marketing on social media. What exactly does this mean? Event production is the coordinating of an event. It’s everything from booking DJs and artists, to coordinating venues, staging, and security. Often a group or greek organization will come to me with their budget and their vision, such as what kind of vibe, venue, or artist they are looking for. I provide them full service event production, handling everything.

Why would people decide to organize their event through my company? First off, there is trust. I am well known in the state’s music industry and have a long track record of trustworthy success. The other reason is, due to my connections, I can often get far better prices when booking artists. Instead of going through a booking agency, I can just call the artist’s manager directly. If I don’t know the artist’s manager, there’s a good chance I know someone who does. 

The other side of my business is the ticket sales/promotion aspect. Arguably, the most important part of coordinating a successful concert. Many groups will bring my company on to promote and coordinate the event, and others may just want me to coordinate or promote separately. 

When promoting a concert, the key is to reach as many people in the targeted demographic as possible. There are  two main ways I do this. The first, and my preferred method, is influencer marketing. Usually dealing with local influencers, or artists well known in the local community. I have many individuals I work with regularly, but if they are new to me, I will reach out to work with them.

The second method would be with targeted ads on social media that are focused on young people, especially college students.

Now, citizen, you may ask me how I got started. In my freshman year of college at Texas A&M, I was a member of a living learning community under the auspices of Startup Aggieland. It’s now referred to as the McFerrin Center under Blackstone Launchpad. All members of the living learning community lived together and took a class on entrepreneurship. Startup would help us found a company, pitch ideas to investors, find mentors, ect. Accelerators were not really well known back then, but it was similar to what people would consider an accelerator today. 

The whole thing was points based. If you went to the class, you got a certain number of points. If you participated in extracurricular activities, you got points. Most people had around 500 points at any given time, but I had about a 1,000. I realize this may seem funny, but I only mention this to emphasize how my young self realized what a great opportunity Startup was. Without them, I very well may have never founded my company. Without them, I would never had access to leaders in the music industry. It’s thanks to them that I got to meet venue owners, Lady Gaga, and the music Tsar of Texas. Without the structure of Startup and the teachings of its mentors, I doubt Shrader Promotions LLC could be what it is today. 

I remember well when I landed my first gig. Originally, I started out as little more than a social media promoter.  But, I was on the ground every night. While others slept or studied, 19 year old me was out meeting bouncers and shaking the hands of bar owners. I did everything I could to grow the business. Over time, I went from promoting to organizing events. Then, I was booking artists. Five years later, I grew the business into what it is today.

I will close with this, friends. There are few greater pleasures in life than walking up to a fancy night club in a jet black suit, giving a nod to a bouncer, and walking straight in. 

Much love

Your Friend,
Benjamin Shrader