Marketing Musician: Recent Episodes
Dave Jackson
Are you an independent musician looking for more gigs, more fans, more music sales? This is the podcast for you.
Periscope, Balb.im and Meerkat are three tools that allow you to stream live to your audience.
Meetkatwas first on the scene but shortly thereafter fell behind Periscope. Blab.im came on the scene with multiple people (up to four) at the same time.
These are great tools to get you in front of your audience. The problem is many musicians setup one microphone and use that to pick up their voice and instrument. Well there is a much better way to do it. If you have a mixer (and most musicians do) you can plug a microphone into your mixer along with your piano/guitar, etc. If you don't have a mixer you can pick up a small mixer that has two inputs for $82.
Multiple Version of the iRigIK Multimedia AmpliTube iRig guitar interface adaptor for iOS devices
iRig 2 ($32 - Selectable dual-mode switch: FX and THRU )
iRig Pre ($35 standard XLR input)
iRig Keys ($69 - Keyboard that goes into iOs device)
Full show notes at www.marketingmusician.com/83
The morning after the premiere of MTV’s Jersey Shore, Viacom reported a 37% increase in earnings.
Of this, a 14% increase in worldwide ad revenues was attributed to the aforementioned show.
How did they make this happen?
In case you don’t know, Jersey Shore is a lifestyle show that features the rich and lavish lifestyle of a few young adults from New Jersey. The show’s followers would do anything to get a piece of the action they were seeing on their TV screens.
So the people who ran the show began to sell Jersey Shore merchandise in outlets called Shore stores. When anyone bought something, the cashiers would ask, “Would you like a signature shot glass with your order?”
Nearly everyone bought the signature shot glass.
This simple question resulted in more than 500,000 sales of shot glasses in the third quarter of 2011.
It’s called the art of upselling. Simply put, ask for more and it’s likely you’ll get what you ask for. And by doing so, you’ll optimize the value of every sale.
The book Marketing Metrics says, “The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5%-20%. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%.”
Today I talk about an update on the 3% rule. As I have not been putting as much effort into the podcast, a whopping .9 percent of the audience contributed to supporting the show. Yes, that means not even 1%. You get what you put into it. I put a lot into the show, but I'm not as regular as I should be. Today I play a clip from the ICE T Final Level Podcast that features Jeremy Jasta from Hatebreed.com where they talk about getting your music in front of a new audience, and how using pictures from the stage can boost your likes. They also talk about the power of LIVE performance. That brings me to word of mouth, where Jeremy talks about Eric Gales (who is a great guitarist) and how he just rocks live. If you found this show of value, please consider donating to the show
Today we talk about what we can learn from attenging a marching band showcase. What really connected with the audience? Fun and Passion.
Today we talk about how important it is to direct people to your website (not soundcloud, facebook, reverb nation, etc).
As I live in Cleveland, I can say first hand that this town went NUTS when LeBron James announced his returning to Cleveland. I mean it went crazy. When news like this hits, and you have a song that fits? Be sure to throw it right in the middle of the media frenzy. That's what Skylar Grey did. http://youtu.be/c4qBuEYciYc Think about bands like 3 doors down who write soundtracks for people in the military.
Sellfy - Sell Downloads with Bonus Affiliate ProgramRecently I spoke about some tools to sell digital downloads (like, your music). I just stumbled across Sellfy, which is a cool way to sell downloads - and it has something that the other tools do not - an affiliate program. Musicians like Joe Bonamassa have used affiliate programs to reward fans for promoting their music. If you're new to affiliate programs, when someone signs up to promote your show they receive a link that identifies that the traffic came from them. Then if they buy something they earn a portion of the sale (that you specify). While I like the Selz.com interface and customization (you can change the color of the buy button), the affiliate program of Sellfy does set it above the others in terms of functionality. Sellfy does allow you to sell directly from your facebook page. You can tie it into your paypal, paymill, or stripe account. You also have access to to send emails to your customers with updates, etc. They take 5% of the sale, and offer unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth.
Get Your Band Out of the Basement Audio Bookbuy
Today we play some clips from the Jay Mohr "Mohr Stories" podcast where he interviews Mark McGrath of the Band Sugar Ray. He explains just what they got paid per dollar when they were on a major label deal. Smooth Gigging Tips For Musicians Everybody helps Cross train everyone so anyone can do the others job. i.e. I - the guitar player - know how to tear down the drums, and wrap up mic cables. Remember volumes relate to how the BAND sounds not so much just YOUR volume. If one volume is too loud the whole band suffers Schedule Going Forward I plan on doing the show going forward doing the show on a monthly (probably) or twice a month (maybe) schedule. Thanks to all who love the show, I appreciate the emails and voice mails. I'll keep her going. It takes a lot of time (about 2 hours an episode, and I haven't received a lot of support over the 10 years. If you've received any value from the show, do consider donating. Support the Show
I recently watch Beware of Mr. Baker on Netflix. Its an interesting look at the drummer from Creme. Why is it called Beware of Mr. Baker? Because the guy is a self centered, egotistical, drunk most of his life. At one point the guy who played drums for Eric Clapton in Creme and later in Traffic with Eric and Steve Winwood had to place and ad in a magazine to try and get a job as a drummer. Why? Because nobody who knew him, or knew people who knew him - wanted him. He brought way too much baggage. We all have egos. That's why I say make sure you get in a band that plays the same type of music that you want to play. I talk about this in my book "Get Your Band Out of the Basement." There will be circumstances that are not fair, and others that you find yourself in front of a giant break. Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react.
Getting Your First GigToday we talk about how you need to establish relationships with those in our industry. We need to take time to get the right contacts, and politely remind people you are available. By keeping your name in front of people, they are more likely to call you when they need a band. It takes time, patience, and luck. In some instances my band would take a "free" gig. we once played a benefit for cancer that had influential people in the audience who later hired us for gigs.
Today we interview Tommy Darker about his new book Indecisive Musicpreneur. Tommy is a musician quit his job full time and to study the music industry and help musicians make a living with their music. He is based out of Greece, and has great music marketing summits at www.darkermusictalks.org
Today we talk about:
What makes people indecisive?
How do you pick your number one priority?
What technology he is using the sell his book and products (check out www.gumroad.com and Dave is playing with selz.com)
I just finished listening to the book Face the Music - A Life Exposed. This is a GREAT book filled with phenomenal stories from the lead singer of Kiss. It is brutally honest, and Paul goes the issues of running a band that becomes so huge. You also hear Paul struggle to find happiness. Happiness? Yep, its weird to hear a guy who has what many would consider everything (Money, Fame, Women, Cars) and yet still be unhappy. The book starts off with Paul explaining how he was born with no right ear (so you get immediate intimacy).
In a world where people think the best way to get a music career is to be on American idol, Kiss did it the old fashioned way. They worked their asses off. You will hear how to worked hard on their music, and their presentation. I play a snippet from Paul's audio book, and you hear how when they can't seem to catch a break, they make their own. It cost them some money. It was a gamble, but they always took their band seriously.
In the book you also hear how Peter Criss constantly threatened (and in some cases did) quit the band. What a hassle. Likewise, you will hear that you CAN put up with people that you don't always see eye to eye. If they help further the band, you can make sacrifices for the good of the band. In the end Paul does not hold back on any band members (including himself). He said the biggest marketing job Gene Simmons did was making the world believe he was a marketing genius.
Paul narrates the entire book (12 hours) and the fact that it's Paul Stanley reading the book makes it even better.
Get the Book For FreeIf you go to www.marketingmusician.com/audible you can sign up and get this book (or any other book) for free. If you don't want an Audible subscription ($15) cancel any time in the first 30 days and keep the book for free.
There is a service that's great for content creators where their supporters can sign up to pay an amount every time you release content (a song, video, etc). This can be any amount. You can then come up with rewards for people who pledge larger amounts. Think of it as an ongoing kick start program. The bonus is as you only get paid when you produce, there is no pressure (like when you have a membership site). If you produce a large amount of content, you might consider having your patrons support you on a monthly basis. If you have a per item system, your patrons can limit their amount they support (put a cap on it) so this way if you are visited by a muse they don't go broke. The system is at www.patreon.com and you can watch my video with Anthony Privitelli is the head of Creator Relations at Patreon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A7z_tX4oMc&feature=share
Writing Songs That Will Connect With Your AudienceI watched a video on Netflix called "Stevie Nicks in Your Dreams," which documents the making of the album. In the movie you see Stevie write a song about New Orleans, then she writes a song for soldiers, and lastly a song about Italy. Now I know you can't often pick what you write about, but it appeared to me she was trying to write to an audience so she could connect. Not so much, writing a song that happened to connect with a specific type of people. According to Wikipedia, The album debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 giving Nicks her fifth top ten album on that chart,[61] with 52,000 copies sold in the first week. Elsewhere, the album has made numerous Top 50 debuts, including #24 on the Australian ARIA Chart and #22 in Canada.
You may want to try find songs that fit your audience. Think of Taylor swift. Here is someone who knows her audience (young girls who apparently get dumped a lot). If you feel moved to write a song for them, it may be something to consider.
I was a Tori Amos fan when she first came out. It was a fun game trying to figure out exactly what she was talking about. After about 4 albums into her career, I was frustrated trying to figure out what the heck she was talking about and quit listening. I love her voice, and I love when it is just her and a piano. However, she is so "out there" that I have no hope of connecting with her. When I listened to a "behind the scenes" explanation of some of her songs, they STILL didn't make any sense (courtesy of spotify.com)
While I understand that you write what moves you, but if you want to connect with people do not get upset if your lyrics are so vague that nobody can connect.
Your First GigIn this snippet of my book Get Your Band Out of the Basement, I share how knowing the other musicians in the area, and knowing all of the club owners (even the one that didn't book my band) allowed me to land a gig when a drummer in another band broke his arm. My band was able to step in and grab the gig. By keeping a positive attitude (and avoid being negative when you get told "No") I was able to help out a club owner who found himself without a band (while helping a band who was going to look bad by cancelling a gig). You can find the music marketing book here.
Today we talk about getting your music into Pandora, some new cool tools to help you market to yoru fans in an intelligent manner. I play a snippet from Get Your Band Out of the Basement about playing for the door (and a horror story).
New Tools at NimbitNimbit is a great tool to take your music marketing to the next level. Recently they added some new features that include:
1. Fan List
Here is some of the ways you can use their new fan list. You will be able to see
- Which fans signed up for your mailing list in the last 30 days in the Boston area.
- Which fans checked into one of your events and has purchased your new album.
- Which fans have not purchased your new album, but did purchase your last album.
- and much more…
Save those and countless other filters into your fan list and use the rest of our tools to keep them engaged.
2. Email
They have created a new email marketing tool, available to Nimbit Premium users, which is integrated throughout the dashboard. You can:
- Set up a promotion for your new single, and only email fans that have not purchased it yet.
- Set up a recurring email that automatically sends an event reminder to fans in the location of your upcoming events, as you add them.
- and much more…
3. Events
The new event management system is available on ALL plans. . We’ve integrated Google searches into event creation: you enter the name and city of the venue and Google takes care of the rest. It’s faster for you and provides more accurate information for your fans, right from your calendar. Also, we made selling eTickets for events much easier. Use event management with fan list and email to send an event reminder to all your fans in the area that haven’t bought tickets yet! Then email all the fans that checked in to your event directly from the events page.4. Promotions
With a shiny new coat of paint and some powerful new features, your promotions will be more effective than ever. Promote any product in your store with a discount, and include another discount only for fans who redeemed the promotion. For example, give a track away for free, and offer the whole album for 20% off to those who download the track. Then, send a thank you email to the fans that bought the album and remind them about your merch options!5. Fan Check.In
Last but certainly not least, fan checkin is the best way to offer incentives to fans who come to events. When a fan arrives at one of your events, they just need to go to fancheck.in/yourartistname on their phone and check in with their email address. You can set it up so they get a free track or a discount in your store immediately, just for checking in. After the show, send the whole recorded performance to the fans that checked in! Fan Check.In is available to Nimbit Plus and Nimbit Premium users.I love this idea as it has hints of the frequent shopper programs at many stores, plus it focuses on people showing up at a gig (which leads to you getting more gigs as you brig a crowd).Go to www.marketingmusician.com/nimbit for more informationSubmit Your Music To PandoraToday we talk about submitting your music to Pandora, and now you don't have to have a CD. You can get the full details HERE.
Adam Spencer is the director of Musomania. This is a service that builds a Wordpress based website for you, but there is more than that. You have a community of musicians to network with, and people who are working on the same things you are. Think about a group of people battling the same Facebook issues, the same Gig press issues, etc. The best thing is you have complete control over your website. You can easily add a logo and tools such as mailchimp, and other tools are all integrated.
Adam is also the founder of The Gemini Project, which includes online resources for musicians as well as the popular Gemini Project Podcast, helping musicians all over the world take their music to the next level with smart marketing and the realization that music is just about connecting with people.
You're not going to be left alone, there are plenty of tutorials to walk you through the process. It's $299 for the service.
You will need to supply your own hosting. You can get hosting at Host Gator for $8 a month or less and get 25% off using the host gator coupon code musicianpodcast
Fore more information go to www.musomania.com
Best Comments Win a Free Musomania AccountLeave a comment below, and Dave and Adam will pick THREE to win a free musomania account.
Check out this video for more information
http://youtu.be/pCDSjrE3g04
Pulse Notify Facebook Notification Plugin for WordPressPulse Notify plugin for WordPress is an interesting tool that allows you to make very cool “facebook-like” buttons that connects anyone who clicks on them to your facebook page, your email list, and gives you the ability to send notifications to their facebook account (c’mon you know you look at them when they show up). Right now the plugin is going for $27, and I’m truly thinking of testing this one out. It seems super simple to setup, and I can see the power of notifying people on facebook and having them click any link you send. Check it out at pulsenotify.com
Handing Objections When Booking Your BandToday we hear about some steps you can take to identify and handle objections. For example you can say, “If I provide a promo packet with a CD you would be willing to consider the band?” If they say no, then you know that there is more to the story (and they may have a “Stable” of bands that they use ). The bottom line is to ask them.
Promo Packet TipsYou can print directly on CDs now. There is no need for labels.
Everything you hand the booking person should have your contact information on it as the CD, the card, the picture etc may get separated, so you NEED everything to have your contact information.
You can get the whole 5 CD package available for instant download
Printing Your Own CDs
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The Copyright Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest and educational organization representing artists, creators, and innovators across the spectrum of copyright disciplines, including membership organizations, associations, unions, compan
In today's episode we talk about selling items from the stage, and we also talk about getting that first gig. In my "tales from the road" I talk about playing with a fill in that got so drunk he couldn't even play. Check out marketingmusician.co
Insightly.com Stops You From Letting Things Drop Through the Cracks.
Today I talk about a free tool that is both web based, and you can use on your mobile. It automates projects, tasks, communications, and you can easily organize all of the communications with your clients in one place. So all those times when you had miscommunications, or you had all the emails printed at home, you could have it all in one place that you can access via the web, or via your phone or tablet.
It's call insightly.com and I've used it for about a month. One of my favorite features is if someone sends you an email, you can forward it to an email address that insightly assigns to you and it will automatically that person to your contacts. You can put a web form on your website that will email you as well as add this person to your contacts where you can connect all email and tasks to that contact. It's cool, and its free.
http://youtu.be/c8z-V8oLs38
Going to the StudioA segment from my book Get Your Band Out of the Basement
Be sure you are not LEARNING songs at the studio, taking excessive smoking breaks, or searching for the studio as you didn't write down the directions or address. However much time you think it will take to record the songs, double it. Work with the engineer, he is in charge of making you sound great. Don't be jerks. Be professional. If all goes well, you will be back to record another CD in the future.
[easyazon-block asin="B00CAC6DXO" align="left"]
Back Up All Your MusicUse BackupmyPC.com for $5 a month to erase all the stress of ever having to try and repalce files that were destroyed due to hard drive failure or virus attack. Do it today.
Today I share a story that looked like we were going to have one of the worst gigs ever. Instead it turned into one of the best, and there I was with no email sign up forms, no flyers to promote the website, and we had people in the palm of our hand. It was one of the worst blown opportunities of my career. With this in mind, I urge you to always be ready.
The other point we make today is having a demo CD. You want to put your best foot forward. Don't record your band in the basement on you iPad, or worse on a cassette deck. It is good to do recordings as it gets you familiar with playing under pressure, but in the end I would go to a studio. It doesn't matter if you have good equipment, its the person behind the knobs that can make you sound pro or awful.
If you are looking to build your website, check out the self paced tutorials that will walk you through using Wordpress to build your band's website (if its good enough for the Rolling Stones, its good enough to you).
Money changes everything. Band after band gets along great and when success shows up things get weird when the money shows up. Today we talk about handling your band's money and how to take steps so its never an issues. It's all about being transparent. We also have tips on treating a touring band, and some news on nimbit.
If you have a smartphone, you can broadcast 30 minutes of your next gig for free. This can turn the gig into an "Event" those in attendance (hey wow we are being broadcast) and for those listening your website they might think "Hey that sounds fun." These recordings can then be taken and used for those who want to give it to "super fans" or as a reward for signing up for your newsletter. If you need more than 30 minute, you can purchase plans for $20 a month that allow you to steam 3 hours straight (realize you could stop broadcasting on break, and do another 30 minutes later).
For more information go to http://www.marketingmusician.com/spreaker
In the Music Business, Your Practice Time is a Business MeetingToday we hear a sample of my book Get Your Band Out of the Basement where I talk about what you should and should not do at practice. These are VERY importance piece of a band's success strategy. Without practice your band will become stale and die. Here are some tips.
- Make sure everyone know what songs to learn
- Make sure everyone know what order the songs will be learned
- If you can't make practice or learn the songs, let everyone know.
- Practice is where you put together what you learned at home (not where you learn the song).
Mat from librerock.com wants to know what I feel about giving away digital downloads away for free.
Giving Away Your Music For FreeFor me, should they and "is this fair" are two different topics. I don't think its fair that you spend money to produce your recordings, you work hard, and are expected to give it away for free. HOWEVER, the customer EXPECTS a downloadable file to be either free of .99 cents. Maybe the best solution is to give the opportunity for people to get it for free (maybe in exchange for an email address). That would be the best of both worlds. Here is my music, if you'd like to buy it, it's .99. If you don't have .99 then give me your email address.
When you DO NOT give it away for free is when you package it with a CD, book, t-shirt. Then you lose the expectation that it should be free.
This is why tickets, t-shirts, and other merchandise is so expensive. You have to feed your kids with something.
What are your thoughts?
B.B. King ReflectionsThis is a guy who has passion for playing. If you get a chance to see him, he's pretty amazing and you could see how he makes each concert an event. He is 87 years old.
Picking Your SongsThis segment is geared towards cover bands, but there is still some information here for people doing original music as well.
Don't play songs that suck.
Don't play sounds that your band can't pull off.
Make it democratic (if this is a band).
Localized Currencies and Stores Comes to NimbitThe initial rollout, planned for May 2013 will support the following currencies:
- Australian Dollar
- British Pound Sterling
- Canadian Dollar
- Euro
- Hong Kong Dollar
- Mexican Peso
- New Zealand Dollar
- Philippine Peso
- Singapore Dollar
- US Dollar
Keep Things Simple My current band has a TON of technology thanks to a lead singer who loves gadgets. The problem is the more technology you have on stage the better the chance a battery will go dead, or something will go wrong. It's something that requires your attention while you are trying to connect to your audience. The singer in my band is running the sound system through his iPad, while he is reading the lyrics on his iPad. With his face buried into the iPad it might be hard to connect with the audience. There is a difference between a want and a need. You NEED a powered PA system for people to hear your vocals and instruments. You WANT a new guitar to replace your current guitar. If your guitar doesn't work, then that want is now a NEED. You want to avoid putting hurdles in place that stop you from being able to perform at your maximum, sound your best, and create a memorable performance. Holding Auditions
Call Loop Text Message MarketingToday we have a great tool called Call Loop to help you connect with your fans via text. The great thing about text messages is they are seen 97% most of the time. Compare this to email, and it pales in comparison.
You can Create and schedule a series of SMS text and vice broadcast messages.
Automate your sms text and voice message marketing using our followups.
Trigger SMS text messages and voice broadcasts on demand when you want.
Send voice broadcasts to mobile and landline phones in seconds. It's simple.
Instantly view your statistics, reports, and analytics in real time.
Add, edit, upload, and easily add new contacts and subscribers.
You can try it completely free for $1 for 14 days. Plans range from free to $99 for power users. Check it out at callloop.com
Be Prepared to Talk About Your BandToday in the segment from Get Your Band Out of the Basement, we hear about preparing to take phone calls so you can sound professional. You can pick up the book at Amazon for some sofa change.
Today's tool is a tool I purchased call Scarcity Samurai. It's way cool. It's way easy. It's way powerful.
Powerful Countdown Timer for WordpressYou can set up a campaign for that will be a one time event, or maybe its a reoccurring event. Either way Scarcity Samurai can handle it. You have multiple options regarding what to do when the timer runs out of time. You can have it do nothing, or redirect to a new page. You can customize the banner to match your website, and choose if it show up at the top or bottom of the page.
Powerful Campaign Boosting ToolIf you have an email program like Aweber where you have a squeeze page, Scarcity Samurai can be involved and keep track of how long your new email reader has been signed up and send them to a special order page with scarcity built into it. The whole time Scarcity Samurai keeps the clock ticking.
What Scarcity Samurai Works1. As Humans we have to miss out on a good deal.
- The timer element ties into our emotional state. We see the logic of a good deal, and the feel the emotion of potentially missing out.
Statistics show that 40$ of ebay sales end in a sale. Why? Scarcity and a deadline. Think about most ebay sales. They have almost no copywriting, and many of them horrible pictures, and yet they result in a sales
When they ran some tests offering special pricing on Marketing Samurai, they found that 60% of the sales came on the last day. When the compared the sales to an exact same campaign without scarcity, the sales WITH scarcity out performed the same product with the same pricing by a scale of 4.5 to 1.
Best of all there are no monthly fees and you can use it on multiple sites. Currently it is selling for $97 Check it out at scarcitysamurai.com
Picking Band MembersHere is a small sample from the book Get Your Band Out of the Basement which is now available as a Kindle Book.
We're going to break musicians down into different types.
For the Love of Money - Motivated
This person could care less what type of music they play, where they play, and when they play. They go to each gig singing, "The best things in life are free, now you can keep 'em for the birds and bees, NOW GIVE ME MONEY." We are not passing judgment here. Just realize that some people could care less - as long as they get paid.
I Got the Music In Me - Motivated
This person is the complete opposite of "money motivated" person. They could care less if they get paid. They don't care if the crowd is 10 people or 100. They don't care if it's 10 miles or 100 miles to the gig. They just get the rush from playing their instrument. Some might say this person is in it "for the fun."
Animal - Motivated
This musician will play any type of music as long as they can try to “hook up” with the audience. This can also expand to mean the person is looking for the party that may follow the scene.
Fame - I Want My 15 Minutes Now - Motivated
This musician wants to be heard by LOTS of people. They get a HUGE amount of fulfillment when that crowd cheers their name. While "Music Motivated" is enjoying playing, "Fame Motivated" is waiting for the applause at the end.
Band Virgin - Motivated
This person has never been in a band before. This person has graduated from Karaoke Thursdays and is ready to go. They are so excited because everything is new.
The Good and The Bad
As you can see some of these types are on different ends of the spectrum. It's nice if you're a mix of all of them, but you are predominantly one or two of the types.
"Money Motivated" is a good person to have watching the books. However, if they are REALLY into money, this may not be such a good idea. If they value money over your band, they may find themselves tempted to "skim from the band."
"Music Motivated" is great to have for "quality control." As they are typically into the music, they will want everyone to do their part to make sure it sounds good.
"Animal" is typically good to have around as entertainment for the rest of the members. If a person is more motivated by the party scene (than performing) that can be an issue.
"Fame" is a great person to have on your team, because they will be looking for bookings. They will be great ambassadors for the group. However, once your group becomes popular, "Fame" can have a hard time getting their head through the door.
"Band Virgin" is great to have around because they are a little like a child at Christmas. Veterans get to view everything through their eyes, which can be kind of fun. However, much like a relationship is great when a couple first begins to date, band virgins may get into a band and decide three months into the project that its too much work. There is nothing worse than getting out of the basement to find out that the band virgin thinks the band takes up too much of their schedule.
For the record (so you know where I am coming from), I am "Music/Fame" motivated. I love to play my guitar, and I love to make people feel good. When people come up and stroke my ego about how good the group sounds, I feel all the hard work has paid off, and it's a great feeling.
Today I share a great story about Facebook stats and why your page is not growing. We also look into keeping your stage setup simple to make giging less stressful. When things get tense let your love of your BAND be more than your hatred for any band memb
I found an inexpensive tool that helps you get more interaction on your Facebook page. You can get more likes, create sweepstakes, and encourage your current fans to find more fans for you. You can create custom wordpress tabs using built in templates tha
Today I talk about a new way to audition people that gives a 360 view, we interview Jim the quiltcaster.com and you get to hear a snippet of Get your band Out of the Basement and Keep them Out of the Asylum. Our website is marketingmusician.com
Today we hear the 36 rules for social media, we talk a little lyrical mishap with Tori Amos, and we open up the stage for Open Mic night.
Today I have a strategy that I feel will help you secure more bookings. Let's look at this scenarios: You drop off a CD and you wonder for the next week(s) if the booking person has listened to the CD. What if you could send them a video of your band and now EXACTLY when they watched the video so you could call them. You start tracking birthdays of your fans. What if you send a personalized video of you saying happy birthday to your fans. You record yourself doing a song, then send this out to your list and right next to the video are links to follow you on Twitter, facebook, or buy your CD. You send out an email blast using your email list management system (aweber, etc) and you now know not only who and when they viewed you video, but you know WHERE they are located, and HOW MUCH of the video they watched (so if you have a coupon for your CD at the end of the video, and nobody watches to the end you know to move that coupon). You can guard your branding by embeding the video on your website, or use one of their 90+ templates. This system work with outlook, or you can use their web based system. It allows you to send unlimited "Video Email messages" and it's only $29 for a month for a limited time. Just got to www.marketingmusician.com/covideo
Why Not Just Use YouTube?If you use youtube, there is no way to turn of the link back to youtube. Now when someone watches your video and they want to watch in full screen mode they end up at youtube watching cat videos. Plus if you make a "personalized" video and that person goes to youtube and see all the other "personalized" videos, they don't feel so special. It truly is a very powerful system. I want to hear how it works for you when you use it.
Tools For Great VideoI revently purchased a Logitech C920 and it's AWESOME. It's HD and it needs almost no light (great for streaming gigs in a dark bar). The mic is "OK" but if you are looking for a cool dynamic microphone that doesn't pick up so much background noise, check out the Audio Technnica ATR2100USB it is USB, AND XLR, so you can use it for Youtube videos, and then go use it on stage. Best of all it sounds great and its only $50
