Often I’m asked by new up and coming bands or artists if I have any marketing tips. The truth is I could do a week long seminar on this topic. I thought I’d share you a few of my favorite tips and strategies to help you promote your music.
1. Get an account with CD Baby. CD Baby is an awesome company and they will digitize your music for iTunes and sell your CD’s online for you. Then you can post your music for sale on your site. (See mine in the right side column)
2. Build a list. The most important audience you ever have will be your database. Ask a friend or the people in your crew to walk around during or after your shows and encourage fans to get on your mailing list. Add an opt-in box to your web site to capture names and emails.
3. Market aggressively on the web. Start a Facebook group, upload some camcorder videos to YouTube, and Viddler. Besides MySpace, – have your own site, too (you can get a great one easily at fastcreative.ca. Become a blogger and blog regularly (just like I am doing right now). Comment on other social networking sites and interact with fans on forums and news groups. Title your gig photos with your name and upload to photo sharing sites. You could even set up your own social network using software like ning.com.
4. Sell product at your shows. I’m amazed how many bands don’t do this. People love souvenirs. When a band offers to autograph their CD or merchandise, some people will buy just to have a physical representation of a memory. I still have my autographed Shania Twain photo 🙂
5. Be Cool. My friend Tim always said, “there are two types of people in the world - cool people and jerks”. Which one are you going to be? It will work to your advantage to be courteous, polite, and on time. Put on a great show and have fun! Fans love to see you having fun on stage. They’ll tell their friends, buy your music and will most likely come out to see you the next time you’re in town.
So there are 5 quick tips to integrate into your marketing. If you have any you’d like to share, feel free to leave a comment I’d love to hear from you.