Hey Sexy People!It's week 5 of the Music Success In Nine Weeks blogging contest held by Ariel Publicity Cyber PR. Ariel explains that artists need to think of themselves as a commodity or product. Unlike actors, musicians have a hard time thinking of themselves this way. Fortunately, we have no qualms selling ourselves. We're not slutty, but we're definitely pretty Whorish. Most musicians I know are just like sluts. Nothing wrong with that per se; they put a lot of work into doing what they love, they're just not getting much in return.
So, what to do when you're not gigging? You still have to communicate with your fans. Consistently. I started reading MSi9W before we released "In Your Mouth," so it was clear that we had to start talking with folks before it came out. What made that clear was Ariel's example of how bands only send out their newsletter when they want to sell me something - a show, a new album, whatever. The more I thought about it, the more I realized "yeah, I'm not their fucking fuck buddy..."
While most bands/artists send out their newsletters sporadically, I decided to do ours weekly! Yeah, that's right, damnit! It's been going out every Tuesday for the past 7 months. I keep it quick and sexy and the response has been great. Actual fan quotes:
"This is the best newsletter ever!"
"I actually look forward to getting your newsletter every Tuesday!"
"Oh, my!"
Greeting, Guts & Getting. That's the format Ariel suggests and it's perfect for me, being a short-form writer (although, these posts take way longer that I expect...) I do one short graph for each section and try to be entertaining and, of course, sexy. We haven't quite reached a thousand names on our list, so we're here continually building and providing some value in folks lives.
In conjunction with other techniques implemented from MSi9W, the other effect of communicating consistently is that we had more people at our last show! So, yes, this stuff works. Now that we know how to get them to the show, we have to keep them there. That's were Tom Jackson picks up.
Another direct result of following MSi9W!
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Hello Dirty Mamas!
ReplyDeleteAriel here..... Thanks for taking the time to think about all of this - and I am beyond THRILLED that you are actually seeing tangible results... Nothing gets me more happy or justifies my exsistence then when an artist puts the rubber to the road. I think you are on to something when you say that its a challenge to get people to actually sign up and receive a free MP3 when they have never heard of you - you are quite literally not in their hearts and minds (yet) that happens when as you point out you start connecting with them regularly in a manner that feels right for you.
For some it's Twitter for some its long form blogging for some photo sharing but sadly for most it's just feeling angry that all this stiff takes an ungodly amount of work so why even try.... I'm proud of you for trying!
and I am watching.
Carry On.
Your faithful Cyber Publicist
Hey Ariel,
ReplyDeleteWe love being watched...
Yeah, it's a lot of trial and error. We've tried things that didn't work; joined communities that weren't really our tribe, etc. It is an unGodly amount of work that I will happily, frustratingly, happily continue to do until I Rock no more.
I am in complete control over my business, which I love. So, thanks for giving me some tools to help spread the Universal Truth of Mama - Rock Hard! Rock Sexy!
You rock.
...carrying on...
The Deacon