FANS FOR KEEPS
Ariel says that the number one reason artists should hire a publicist, is not because it sells albums (because if PR sold albums she'd be a heck of a lot richer) but because it helps increase awareness around your name, your music, and your brand. It's a sound logical idea, which to my mind ultimately affiliates well with the 1000 true fans notion, too. In short, people need to know you exist.
Years ago, way before the internet was used as a promo tool, musicians were familiar with the bedroom rock star. You know the guy. He sits there on the end of his bed making music, rehearsing relentlessly, thinking that someday he'll become great. He may very well become a great musician, but he doesn't take the next vital step! Mistakenly, he thinks he'll get discovered by a rich record company exec, who just happens to hear his guitar blasting out as he cruises by in his Rolls Royce... and bingo! Stardom, fortune, and all the rest of it.
IT NEVER HAPPENS.
Back in the mid-80s I had a publishing deal with Peer Music, Denmark St, in London's famous Tin Pan Alley. I remember being told by an MD at the company an intriguing story. It involved Cat Stevens and his ultimate promo tool before he "got discovered." He found the home address of a top producer and camped on his doorstep all day, waiting for him to return home from the studio. Apparently this all day vigil went on for a number of days until the producer agreed to listen to Cat Stevens' songs. The rest is history!
The point? Get noticed! I'm not sure of the merit in following what Cat Stevens did. The game has changed. Having an online presence in its many forms takes you directly to potential fans. Pre-internet days, this wasn't an option. Having been a pro artist pre-internet days (I had major publishing deal/and was managed by a legendary Hollywood producer), I can say with confidence that it's much easier to get noticed nowadays. Back then, I toured relentlessly, paid silly money for pro studio time, played numerous showcase gigs for record industry types. I sent out song demos to every name in the industry to try and get noticed. I phoned and phoned and phoned! Hustle, hustle, hustle. It cost money. It took time. It took self belief and you entered, what I called last week, The Land of Music Addiction. Eventually
I did get noticed, but it was a hard, hard physical, mental and emotional slog!
Today's online tools open up a new world of promo possibilities. But you can make good music and be a music success without ever leaving your computer! No joke! So to my mind, the next question is: will you be a lasting success with enough fans to sustain you? (more on this in a later post).
So, once you get some attention, the idea is to keep it! Fans, followers, people interested in your music have to want to come back. Ariel talks about optimizing your website and setting it up so that it is a vehicle for building your email list; creating two-way communication. It's the best way to keep fans returning: talk to them.
THE RULES
Ariel also breaks it down into straight-forward steps. Which got me thinking - do I follow these simple rules of thumb?
6 Steps to Maximizing Your Website:
Follow these rules and start getting casual visitors to become fans.
1. Add Your Pitch to Your Homepage
Last week I created it and have added my pitch to my homepage and to all of my websites: MySpace, Facebook etc.
2. Your Site Must Load in LESS than 3.5 Seconds
Ariel says that recent studies show that people have the attention span of gnats and that if people have to wait more than 3.5 seconds for a site to load, they’re moving on to another site. So, time your site and make sure it loads in less than 3.5 seconds. Ariel found out that Google can help at its
Webmastercentral, where you can find out about your site's page load speed.
My load speed was 2.9 seconds!
3. NO Flash Intros
Flash intros are popular but IAriel urges you to skip the temptation to have one! You
want to have a clean, easy-to-load page that instantly connects you and your
information directly to your fans; not a Flash intro, which is unreadable to search
engines.; meaning you will not be findable in Google, which is critical to your
online strategy and your online success. Apparently, the newest version of
Flash is readable by search engines but Ariel suggests skipping it all together.
4. Have a Consistent Look and Feel Throughout the Net
Ariel talks about your site should having the same color scheme and theme throughout the entire thing so that visitors do not think they have landed on another site while surfing through yours. Studies show that when people feel uncomfortable online they
move on and they feel uncomfortable when the consistency changes. The same
goes for Social Networking sites – make sure your MySpace theme matches your
site. If your site is blue, your MySpace page should also be blue.
This makes perfect sense to me.
5. Give Away an Exclusive, Free MP3 / Video
Satisfy the WIIFM – What’s In It For Me? (your fan’s little voice)
Every consumer (read: fan) on earth, when confronted with the option to buy
something, is thinking: WIIFM? / What’s In It For Me - is driving your fans at all
times! So therefore, you must offer them something they can’t refuse.
People can’t refuse free stuff – so offer free stuff on your homepage!
You must create a bribe on your homepage to encourage people to sign up to
your email list, which should be prominently highlighted on your homepage.
This bribe should be exclusive only to your homepage, and should not be
available anywhere else online.
This free offering is a gift that people receive when they sign up to your monthly
newsletter, as your way of saying “Thank you for being my fan!” The last thing you want to do is put a box in your page saying, “Sign up for our email list so we can send you more email,” which is basically what that says. Instead, try giving something away as an incentive to get people to sign up to your email list. A free MP3 says, “Thank you fan, we appreciate you signing up for our mailing list!”
I've been doing this for years: giving music away as an MP3. In fact, I give ALL of my songs away for free in MP3 format. It's proven a huge success as a marketing tool, because I am very close to 1 million free download giveways! I give away music all over the net.
Last FM, where I've been No.#1 artist in the free download tag for over three years now. I have a substantial fanbase there, with 13,000 fans, listening over 125,000 times to my music. Facebook, Reverbnation, Audiosafe, Bandcamp, and many more places. In just two years, on Jamendo (the world's foremost legal free website) there's been over 64,000 downloads of my songs, and more than 110,000 plays. From this folk have
used my music in their youtube video projects. In fact Russia's biggest online game provider, Nival Network, are using 3 of my songs, with combined plays of over 60,000 in the past two and a half months. It's very satisfying as an indie artist to see my music spread like this via the internet.
6. Make It Clear and Set , Them at Ease
Ariel says you want to make sure that it is very obvious to your visitors that the moment they sign up to your mailing list they will be receiving their free MP3 or video, and that they’re also getting signed up to your newsletter. Also, on your homepage, you should put in small letters: “We will never sell, rent or lend your email addresses to anyone else ever,” so that people can be assured that their email addresses are safe with you.
Yep, I have that covered!
AND FINALLY
I know Ariel stresses the importance of optimizing your website presence, giving over a whole chapter to the subject. I agree 100%! I want to add that before I read Ariel's book, I was already doing most of the steps she recommends, and take it from me - they work! See you next time for - Week 4: Social Media For Musicians
