Path To Stardom: Recent Episodes
Sedia Bonsu
Learn how to grow your fanbase from 0 - 1000 fans by flipping how you think about your music and how you think about marketing.
Making catchy choruses is the key to having a memorable song! Here's one quick way to help you make catchy choruses in no time!
Consistency is the key to getting whatever you want done. No matter how you may feel, if you made a commitment to yourself to get it done, GET IT DONE!
Doing covers of popular artists songs is a sure way to get you listened to by many people. It's an easy way to get people used to your sound and lower the barrier to entry so more people will want to experience your music.
Youtube is the King of all social media! They have added a new feature that is similar to tiktok that can help you boost your page even more!
Nowadays it's important to be in as many places as you can. Here's the easy way to make sure you're seen everywhere!
Music is one of the things that has helped me find my voice! I'm grateful that it came into my life in this way.
As music artists, if you're making music that comes from your soul, you don't need to change anything about your music. You need to be able to find people who rock with your music as is!
Creating tutorials featuring the things you do to make your music great are helpful to other artists looking to do the same thing. Be a source of information for them.
Wanna write songs for other people? It's easier than ever to find people who need songs but don't want to create them, themselves.
By messaging A&R and record labels directly, you are unlikely to get the response you are looking for. Record labels will come to you once they see the buzz that you have created around yourself.
Facebook & IG can change at any time! They can kick you off at any time and you'll have to start again from square 1. By collecting your fanbases information directly, you will be able to whether the storm, just in case Facebook & IG change, and you'll be able to talk to your fans directly and build yourself back up.
Success is when preparation meets opportunity. When the time comes for you to step into the limelight, are you ready for it?
Are your goals clear or fuzzy? The more clarity you have on what you're doing and what you want to accomplish, the easier it is to get the important things done.
It's important to check the results of what you're doing. By doing regular audits, you can save a lot of time by observing what works and what doesn't and fine tuning your methods and making it better.
If you want to change your flow without having to rewrite your entire verse, experiment with singing/rapping your verse backwards!
Give your fans a dream that they can accomplish with you. Ex. Road to getting one million streams. Make them feel important on your journey, and they will in turn help you accomplish your dreams.
Social media is all day everyday. That doesn't mean that you have to be on it all day everyday in order to post things on your Instagram & Facebook. Now Facebook & Instagram have created a quick and easy tool that is completely free that allows you to program your posts in advance.
Your audience are people who watch what you're doing, but your fanbase are active participants in your musical journey. They share your music, watch your videos, and buy your merch. In today's episode, we discuss how to turn your audience members into active members of your fanbase.
Your uniqueness is what's gonna make you blow up! A lot of up & coming artists want to compare themselves to their favorite stars, but really what's most important is how you showcase your uniqueness.
Livestreaming with your fans is a great way to interact with your fans and give them a special experience. As an artist, it also is a fun way for you you to also get feedback on your music in real time.
By comparing yourself to bigger artists, it gives new listeners a point of reference for what your music sounds like. If they already like the way a bigger artist sounds, by saying you sound similar to them, will make them far more likely to listen to your music as well.
Having a lot of fans is great, but if you're not actually making $$$ from them, then what's the use?
Being a star is way more than talent. Do you have the consistency & grit to do this for years upon years? It takes time and effort to be in this game! Are you sure that you're built for it?
Doing music for a lot of people, is a temp job. Artists come and go every single day! Artists that were hot 10 years ago, many of them have been forgotten about. With that being said, are you ready to ride the waves of relevancy? How can you make sure that ten years later, you still have a career
Whether or not you think so, but you have been chosen to express yourself and share your experiences so you can help others! The universe chose to use your message to be a voice to the people!
You think you may know who listens to your music, but do you actually know? Having that knowledge can help you connect with real fans who will love your music.
Controversy sells. People love to watch duels between two great warriors. Give them a show, and an audience will come around to see it.
The great thing about your music is that your fans can create a community around it, and get to bond with people from all over the world who share the same musical taste as them. Not only do they get to enjoy your music, but they get to be part of something bigger.
Facebook is not dead! It's more alive than ever! It's the most popularly used app on the globe! By not utilizing it to your advantage you're missing out on a huge amount of potential fans!!
We put so much emphasis into the idea, but what matters the most is the execution. By daily practice of implementing your ideas and turning them into something tangible, over time you will perfect the execution.
Need more money for your music? Why not get multiple streams of income? These steps will help you blow up on Youtube and use it as another consistent stream of income!
The more you get other people involved in your projects is the more willing they are to share the project. When people have an investment in something that you do, they are way more likely to share it since they feel like they had a part in making it great too!
Youtube is the second most popular social media app. Therefore, as music artists we have to use youtube to our advantage! By pairing your song with a medium sized Youtuber, when they blow up and go viral, so do you!
Music is situational. Depending on the environment that you're in is the type of music that will be played. What type of environment is your music made for?
Edutainment is when you can mix entertainment and education together to make content that is fun, educational and provides value. Edutainment content is a great way to grow your social media following, and brand. When people see you as an expert, they will visit your page & share your content over and over!
Increase your engagement on Instagram & Make $$$ on YouTube by posting controversial topics on your page with your opinion and having people argue below.
Making money through the other skills you have and reinvesting it into your music is a great way to get income! Rather than waiting on the magical record deal, take life into your own hands and offer skills and services that help others do stuff they don't want to do.
I used to be a hater. I used to be jealous of all of the other stars that I thought were doing better than me, until I realized one thing.
Every business always looks into what their investments get them over time. As a music artist, are you being smart in your investments? Is what you're investing in giving you back a solid return in regards to new followers and fans who are into your music?
The quickest way to level up in your field is by having a mentor. Mentors have gone through similar situations and they can help you navigate them with ease, while also helping you improve at a rapid pace.
Each and every thing you post are mini experiments. With each post, you should be observing what works, and what doesn't work and refining your content accordingly.
Wanna increase your monthly Spotify listeners as well as your Spotify streams? Here are 4 ways to boost your Spotify
Tiktok is the easiest way to grow your following with the least amount of effort! If you're not on tiktok already, get on it! Make content that tells your story, and relates to you and your music! If you post consistently you are guaranteed success!
As music artists, we are mini CEOs of our businesses. In order for a business to run, it needs money to grease the gears! How are you greasing the gears of your business? Are you spending $ on your music business monthly or only investing time?
I became obsessed with the results and forgot what I was doing music for. It caused me to fall out of love with music, and I quit altogether.
As a music artist, we are always working on new stuff and our newest stuff is always the stuff we are most excited about. But what about the old songs? The old songs are new to someone who doesn't know you. Therefore, it's important to promote your old songs just as if they were new songs too. You never know what will catch on.
In order to make your music profitable, you must look at your music from a business standpoint. Your music is a product that is sold to customers. In order to sell your product, you must create and nurture a team to get it done.
We all have fans who are into every single thing that we do and say! Are you nurturing those relationships in the right way or just taking them for granted? check ins and pop ups with your hot fans, will keep them engaged with you
These books will help you think differently about how you apply yourself in music, marketing and your daily life!
Before people even interact with your content, they read the words. If you just put something like "Listen to my music!" Or "New Track Out Now!" it gives them little incentive to actually interact with your content.
This episode isn't about marketing advice per say, it's about mental health. Do you beat yourself up for not getting certain things done? How do you feel about the pace of your life right now?
Your actions and choices build your future. Are you actually doing music as a career or are you doing it as a hobby? Observe your actions and act accordingly.
As a music artist, one of the best ways to get people to discover your music is by running ads. Instead of running ads and getting a limited result, run ads to your target market and have a funnel that is able to collect their information so in the future, you can re-target those same people for free.
Placements are a great way for new people to hear and discover your music and you as a music artist. They are another way in which your music can get heard without the need of direct marketing on your end.
As artists we may try and do everything ourselves and it can be a lot of pressure? Why put pressure on ourselves to do everything when a template has already been laid out for us, by people who have com before us?
What do you like to rap or sing about? Does your music match that? If not, think about how you can either change your music to match what you rap about, or change what you rap about to match your image.
By creating a sales funnel, you lead your fans and customers through an experience that leads them to buy your stuff while collecting their information. Eventually as your build your email list through your funnel, it's a free and easy way to contact your fans for free and update them on your new music and new products you have for them.
We live in a world where thousands of pieces of content are literally posted every second. If you post less than daily, your stuff can just get lost in the mix of everything else that people see or scroll by. By posting daily on your selected platform it is a free and easy way to increase your reach and stay in the minds of your fans.
Are you comparing yourself to up & coming artists and wondering why you don't also have the streams that they do? The industry is all smoke & mirrors and money talks. Many up & coming artists are backed by big labels who have the money to fund their careers and make them look like they're doing better than they actually are.
As an independent music artist without a big budget, what other things are you good at besides music? Are you also good at fashion & styling? Are you also good at creating digital artwork? Whatever you're good at, show that to the world. People will connect to different things that you do, and you will be able to offer value in other ways on top of your music.
As artists, many of us struggle with perfectionism. We think that in order for our work to be acclaimed, it needs to be perfect, or that we need to be perfect people. By unapologetically telling our stories of who we are and showing our imperfections, fans will connect to who we are on a deeper level.
The key to getting a lot of people to support you is by showing love. As a music artist, how often do you show love to other music artists? By creating a community of music artists, you all can each support each other, motivate each other, and increase your engagement all at the same time.
The key to many of the algorithms is to post as often and as consistently as you can. So you don't go crazy and burn yourself out by making content every single day, the key is to make a lot of content in batches.
As creatives, we also need to be creative in the way that we are making money to fund our art. Providing digital goods to your fans, is an easy way to make $ even when you are sleeping.
The reason why people listen to other popular artists over you, is because they have the expectation of what the song is going to be about. How did they get that expectation? By knowing who the artist is, and what that artist represents, they have an expectation that that song will speak to them.
There's a lot of big talk of being an independent artist vs. being a label artist. Both have their pros and cons. Which one is best for you?
Set yourself apart from other music artists by giving your fans a customized experience.
Often times as music artists, we focus a lot on getting new fans. But what are we doing to keep the attention of the new fans once we get them? By having a large discography of music, you can keep the attention of new fans who are hungry to consume new music.
Your fans are people. They follow you and listen to your music because of what you represent. Your message resonates with something that is deep within them. Therefore, if you are able to build your dream fan avatar, and know your dream fans interests, likes, dislikes, problems they have, situations they are going through, etc. then you are able to talk to them in a more effective way. With your dream avatar in mind when you are writing songs, it will make it easier for you to write songs, because you know exactly who those songs are for.
We now live in a world where branding and personality trumps talent. People are looking for leaders and influencers who will help them improve their lives, so the most notable and popular influencers are popular because of what they represent. As a music artist, it's important to show your authentic self (or it can even be a character) to your fans. Once your fans feel like they know you on a more personal level, they will consume your music on a deeper level as well.
As an up & coming artist, dropping singles consistently is the best way to grow your fanbase. 1) 60,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify daily, so the Spotify playlists favor artists who drop the most and consistently. 2) Dropping singles vs. dropping a full album gives you multiple chances to connect with new fans in totally different ways. 3) Gives you the chance to practice and hone in on your marketing message
As an independent music artist, it can be extremely frustrating to see that your friends and family don't support your music. Only if they were as passionate about sharing your music, as you are passionate about making it, then things would be perfect, but they don't. A lot of the time it's because they don't feel connected to your music and it doesn't resonate with them. A great way to get your friends and family involved in supporting your career is by including them in your process. When they can say they helped you finish a song, or helped you decide on album artwork, etc. they feel invested in your work on a personal level, and this will make them much more likely to share your music and support you on your journey.
Have you noticed that your posts on Instagram, are getting less and less views & likes? It seems like every time you post on your story or feed, less and less people can see it. If you have switched your profile to a business account on Instagram, your reach is being limited purposefully by Instagram. This is because Instagram wants you to pay for ads. On a regular personal account, where you say that you are not trying to grow your business, or gain revenue from Instagram, they allow your content to have a wider organic reach. By changing your profile to a personal account, Y you will increase your reach to your followers and new people, but you will lose the ability to see your analytics so pick your poison, wisely.
We make music from our soul, but that doesn't mean that it will pay our bills so we can survive. Why as music artists do we feel like we have to choose one or the other? Why not have both? By building an email list of subscribers and nurturing your relationship with them, you can make $ as a music artist to support your art whether you're a big or small artist.
When you know you want to put out a song, the plan on how you release the song is the most important. Therefore, you must dig your well early. By developing relationships with influencers, who share the same target market as you, months before you release a project, they can help your promote your project when it is finally ready to be released.
Many of the tips that I am providing are from the book, "Traffic Secrets" by Russell Brunson. He is a master marketer and is the king of getting people to be interested in whatever product you may be selling. I am applying his marketing principles to music artists and music marketing in order to help us grow our fanbases.
Your marketing message can be broken up into three parts: hook, story, and offer. A hook is used to draw people into your content, your story is a way of building a relationship with your fan, and your offer is what you will give in exchange for your new fan taking the time out to consume your content. Using this framework, will help your marketing message be more effective and attract rather than chase your fans.
As music artists in 2021, we have to do so many things ourselves. We make music, make our own artwork, edit our own videos, etc. Often times we feel like a one man band, and this is all to create content. Marketing is a whole other bear and by focusing on one platform you can gain a deeper understanding of of the platform, post effective content that connects with many people and grow your fanbase. After you have built a large enough fanbase, on one platform, you can push your fans to follow you on the others.
In order to get get, you must give. Seems paradoxical, but it's the nature of the universe. Interacting with your fans, influencers who you want to get in front of their audiences, and new people who discover you are ways to build relationships. Often times, we get attached to the numbers, not realizing that what makes the numbers are people. Once you develop and nurture your connections, you will find that you are able to grow organically.
You can increase your views on your content by optimizing the platforms that you post them on. More people will stop and actually watch what you post, when you make sure that your content is made in the way that the platform shines!
The best music ads are the ones that understand this principle.
As I'm going through the tips that I'm reading in Russell Brunson's book, "Traffic Secrets" and applying it to music, I'm detailing certain pitfalls you may face, and ideas that may jump out to you as you build you list of influencers who will eventually help you promote your music.
We are here to work smarter not harder. Developing relationships with influencers is a great way to get in front of a large part of your audience in an easy way.
A lot of the time you may hear new info that is life changing and you want to implement it to your own life but because you feel unsure, you procrastinate. The path to overcoming procrastination is by taking one small step and moving on from there.
You have now figured out that you don't have to change the message in your music in order to attract fans, instead you must show how your music is able to help people. Now that you know this, how do you find your fans?
When it comes to who your music attracts, it's not solely based on things like age, sex, etc. it's about what sorts of problems your music solves.
You have dope amazing music, but you don't have the people to listen to it. Here's how to craft a marketing message that will attract super fans to you!
This is an introduction to me, Sedia B, who I am and how I can help music artists grow into the big artists that I know they can be.