Archive for June, 2009

One of the most important parts of your self-promotion is your mailing list and your relationship with the people on it.

Getting people to sign up and provide you with their contact details enables you to reach them directly for a whole host of reasons and create that genuine relationship between you and them.

This will foster their fan loyalty to you and will ultimately help you be successful.

But, how do you go about getting people to join your mailing list and how do you get people to stay there? Here are some things for you to consider…

1. Make sure you’re giving people the opportunity to sign up.

This may sound like common sense, but you need to make sure that your potential fans know that you have a mailing list and where they can go to sign up.

The first step for this is to make sure that you have a sign-up box anywhere that you have an online presence e.g. your Facebook profile, MySpace page, band website, blog etc. This is the easiest way for your fans to sign up, and if the casual browser finds your site interesting it enables them to sign up to receive a bit more information about you.

You should also try to make sure that you include a signature file on any message you send to people who contact you. All this needs to be is a few lines at the end of each message including a link to your website and a link for people to sign up.

You should also use your current mailing list subscribers to help you recruit more subscribers. A really simple way of doing this is by adding a couple of lines at the bottom of any emails you send to your list just saying that if they found this email useful, interesting or entertaining then could they please forward it to anyone else they think might like it, along with instructions on how to subscribe.

And finally, make sure that you always have a mailing list sheet (or some cool techy app) with you at any shows you play!!

2. Don’t ask for too much information

Think about how you are going to realistically contact your mailing list and I guarantee in most cases that the main way you will do it is by email. Therefore, this is the single most important thing that you need from anyone who subscribes!

Don’t ask for any additional information from your potential sign ups unless you’re actually going to use it. If your fans are faced with a huge form to fill in to join a mailing list then the chances are they’re not going to do it. However, if all they have to fill in is their name, and email address then you’ll find they’re much more likely to subscribe.

If you really have to have them, the other data to consider are maybe date of birth or phone number (for SMS) and city or state (depending on your plans), but I really don’t recommend this. I’ll admit that some idea of where people live is useful (particularly for touring bands in the US) but you have to balance the need for that information against the effort required by a fan to give it, and therefore the fact that they might not bother at all.

It’s also worth your while to put in a brief statement on privacy and how you’re going to use their information. You need to make sure that your subscribers know what they’re signing up to, so let them know what to expect (email updates, special offers, frequency of emails etc.).

Always make them aware that you’re not going to spam them or pass their details on to anyone else. In fact, it’s a good idea to tell them this before asking them to sign up, so that way they know what to expect beforehand and can make an informed decision.

We’ll look at the systems available in Part 2, but, in short, I’d go for something that lets you communicate with your fans by name – so an email system that asks for their name (or first name) as well as their email address is preferable as you can then address all subsequent emails to them personally and that builds your relationship in a very natural manner.

3. Benefits of sign up

One of the best ways to get people to subscribe to your mailing list is to offer freebies and special offers if they do – things that can only be achieved by providing you with their email, and that they will miss out on if they don’t.

This doesn’t have to be something huge, and should include an immediate freebie as well as long term benefits. Good immediate freebies include money off your latest releases, or free downloads, whilst long term benefits could include a free download every month, access to a members only forum, or the chance to buy tickets for shows before everyone else.

Think about what you have to offer and tailor your free gifts to what you and your fans would like to have, but make sure it has a real value to your potential fans. You want them to be impressed, happy, and to recommend you to other people.

Once you have people on your mailing list then you need to make sure that you give them a good reason to stay subscribed. Every email you send them gives someone the opportunity of un-subscribing. So keep in mind what your fans want, not what you want them to do and make sure that you’re not sending out emails for the sake of it.

If your email is not offering something, providing your list with entertaining insights into your day to day life, or giving information, then don’t send it.

More on the systems we recommend and email content tips in Part 2, as soon as I write it!

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You can’t argue that when Radiohead announced the release of ‘In Rainbows’ a matter of days after it had been completed and just days before it was made available and announced that fans would be able to get the mp3 download for whatever they wanted to pay, they sent shockwaves right through the recorded music part of the industry.

It was groundbreaking in two ways – obviously the choosable pricing was a first, and headline grabbing, but time will perhaps show that the fast turnaround from album completion to being made available to fans might yet be the bigger revelation. The band made much of it at the time – wanting to be able to get their music to fans as soon as they had created it rather than going through a 6 to 12 month build up in an old school label approach before release.

Nonetheless, the pricing initiative turned out to be very profitable for the band, but, of course, they were already a world class act with a massive and rabid fanbase – would that approach work for you?

Well, now there’s a new service that will allow you to find out – anjuno.

If you know how the Radiohead release worked, then you pretty much know how anjuno works.

It’s free to join and anjuno then takes a percentage of any income from sales of downloads. You upload your stuff (I say stuff, because the system works for music or ebooks – so how about doing a tab book or lyric book for your fans at the same time?) and then set the system to accept payment at a level that a fan wants to pay – including free.

It’s brand new, and who knows how this is going to work for new artists. Personally, I think it’s a great idea and I’d follow the Radiohead model and use anjuno for an early release blitz followed up by a physical release  (with superior packaging or otherwise of collectable value) and continued availability on itunes etc.

Of course, you’re going to get some people going for the free option, but as the Radiohead release showed, faith in human nature will pay off and a record will find a natural price level if its good enough!

What do you think – do you like the idea? Let us know.

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I’m posting this because once again I’ve been inspired by something on Ariel Hyatt’s blog – a new post entitled ‘Increasing the Frequency of Purchases’

If you read our blog you’ll know that we think she writes a lot of great information and that we follow her blog. So, check her post out, but what about the video below?

Well, both are all about how you can find ways to sell more stuff to your fans (not just music) and, in the process, have them become more involved in the process of promoting you to new potential fans.

The video is of a guy called Michael Masnick who runs a company called Techdirt that is very future thinking and all deep into Web 2.0. In it he expands on an earlier lecture he gave that looked in detail at how Trent Reznor has been interacting directly with NiN fans and bypassing the record company model.

However, in this updated talk, he answers the criticism that it’s easy for Trent Reznor with an already massive fanbase, but it’s not for you when you’re starting out. Well, he shows that myth can be debunked by thinking outside the box by reference to four unsigned artists who are doing very well – including one, Corey Smith, who turned over $4 million last year as a DIY artist. Not bad.

Check it out and I’d love to see comments about anything that you’re doing that fits with these ideas to develop your relationship with your fans and gets them to buy more from you. 

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Heads Up!

You may or may not be aware of this already, and you might agree with the policy change or not – opinion seems divided. But, whichever side of the fence you’re on, this is a critical opportunity for all facebook users, which will apply particularly to bands and artists.

This Saturday at 12.01 Eastern Daylight Time (That’s 5.01 PM for Brits), you will be able to register for a user name on facebook for your existing account – for the first time ever – and they will be dished out on a first come first served basis!

Some people hate the idea as too much like MySpace, but whether you like it or not, you want to be ready to get there and get your band name. I’m not quite sure how much SEO benefit there might be to it, but I know it’ll look better and be easier to remember and therefore direct people to.

You will have the option of all alphanumeric characters and a full stop (period for the US readers!) but that’s about it. So mine will read, if I get it, www.facebook.com/ianclifford. You could also just use your band name followed by’.com’ if that’s your usual web address.

There is obviously going to be a major rush to get names and facebook will have a disputes process, but the best advice is get there and get your name bagged.

Everything you need to know is covered here at facebook – http://www.facebook.com/username/

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We are in the process of writing what we hope will be the definitive guides for musicians on how to use Social Networks to promote and market your music and your band – the single most important development in music marketing in the last 75 years. Since, in fact, the shift from sheet music to recorded music that allowed you to take home a piece of the act that you loved with you to play over and over.

Social Networking is both about that experience of having something to listen to (in the case of most sites), but it’s also about discovery and that’s why it’s so important for the modern musician.

It’s our view that the step that almost all bands and performers miss in their development is sufficient dedication to developing their talent (songs, performance etc) and thus don’t have the necessary potential greatness to be discovered. That said, and we do bang on about it all the time, once you’ve put yourselves through a rigorous development process (because record companies won’t these days), you need then to get very, very proactive about spreading the word and Social Networks are the best way to do that. Of course, you ought also to be playing live!

But, which Social Networks?

I remain a massive fan of MySpace - I’ve talked about why on the Blog elsewhere, but in short it is the place that people go to look for music and information on bands. So, you have to be there and be active.

Amanda, on the other hand, loves Facebook. You have to have a profile there too because that is where people of the age and with the interests that you need to be reaching spend all their online time hanging out. It’s not as easy to market and promote your music on Facebook as it is on MySpace, but it does make better and deeper long term connections with people who become fans from discovering you there.

I’m not the expert on Facebook, Amanda is. She is 20,000 words in to writing our comprehensive guide which will reveal all that she knows and more! No idea when it’ll be ready as we can’t rush these things as we need to make sure they are as good as they can be, like our MySpace guide.

Meanwhile, I came across the official Facebook blurb on how to promote music and bands today. It may have been there for ages – I don’t know – but I just discovered it today. It’s very basic and simple, but if you aren’t using Facebook for your music, then it is an essential primer. Download it here

If you can’t wait for our guide, the information that I think is the best to date for musicians on how to promote on Facebook is in a book called ‘Facebook Marketing’ by Nick Jag. If you click on that link and have a look down the page, you’ll see the book. It’s a worthwhile investment in my opinion…..at least until our book is available!

 Just to round this off, where else do you need to be active? – simple, at the bare minimum, you need a Twitter profile and a Youtube channel as well. There’s some stuff about both of those to be found here, but these are the other two books that we are working on to complete the set.

It’s tough to juggle interacting on all these sites and maintaining your own site (which is also essential) but it needs to be done, so learning the best ways to do it is invaluable.

Oh, and if you were looking for a specific tip – the headline suggests that there is one after all! – well, I meant that the tip was to go and get Facebook’s free official guide. But, something that I have seen work incredibly well is using Facebook Social Ad’s. One guy I know has refined this into an art where he spends less than $100 per month but adds 100’s of real fans each month – people who come to gigs and then buy stuff from him.

That’s the tip – if you look into it on Facebook (just click on the ‘Advertising’ tab at the foot of their pages) and read their instructions, you’ll see it is incredibly easy. It’s also very, very targeted. Amanda’s forthcoming Facebook guide will have more detail and either a section or a bonus guide by our mate who has mastered the art of using it for finding fans.

I do have an ebook just on the Facebook Social Ads topic that I read on it, which I have permission to give away. It’s not music focused but it does have some good tips. If you want me to send that out to all subscribers, leave a comment and make sure that you’re signed up as a subscriber (big box at the top right if you’ve missed it!) and I’ll send it out.

For now, go and get the free official Facebook Guide and have a look at their Social Ads.

The links again:

The Offical Facebook Guide for Music & Bands

Nick Jag’s ‘Facebook Marketing’

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This is a really quick post. I’ve just signed up for OnlyWire, a service that allows you to bookmark any webpage to a whole load of Social Bookmark sites at once.

It takes a while to set up but if you need to have webpages added to those sites, as I do, then it is the very best service that there is. And it saves an age.

As part of the registration, I have also signed up for Technorati. In order for that site to believe that this is my blog I have to publish this post and point them to it – so here goes – Technorati Profile

It’s been an interesting exercise and one that can be applied to your own site, or even your MySpace page. This will allow you to notify a host of Social Bookmark sites every time that you put something new on your band website. So, say you put up a video of your latest rehearsal, you log into OnlyWire and automatically notify all the sites that you have previously registered with.

Why do you do this? Well, although Social Bookmarking sites are there, in many cases at least, for individuals to host their ‘Favourites’ list in an online profile, they are far far more use for driving traffic to your site. Every time that you submit or ‘tag’ a web page to one of the sites, it gets ranked and then other registered users of that site are pointed to it by searching witihin the sites, split up into categories. So, by bookmarking your own new posts, you are increasing the chances of more traffic coming to your site from those Social Bookmarking sites. Obviously, those people may then become fans of your band.

To start with, I have set up the OnlyWire account and registered with Digg, delicious, Bebo, Reddit, technorati, and Stumble Upon. Each time I post I will bookmark to all those sites automatically by just logging in once to OnlyWire, and I should see a boost in traffic.

That’s the theory and it should work for you too. I recommend you try it and see if it works for you.

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