Marketing Tips for DIY Bands… #2
Aaaaannnnd she’s back. Hopefully for awhile this time, as it has been a good break. I must not have as much to say because I haven’t been frequenting the MBTA as much lately.
Anyhow, this time I would like to address another couple of tips for bands and artists. Well, it is actually sort of one tip… but has two sides. Bands- please please please take the time to update your website(s). But don’t. What do I mean by this? Well, usually I am just indecisive and I kinda sound like that Brett Favre/ Sears commercial, but in this case it actually has a purpose.
Firstly, your website is a completely vital piece to how your fans connect with you. I hate little more than when I go to a band’s site and I cannot locate their newest tour dates or when I can expect their record they’ve been working on for 92838493280 months. It is just toooooo easy and you haven’t much excuse. I know, I know- you are saying I am the pot calling the kettle black because it took me more than 3 months to come back to my blog and post. But let’s be honest- all of 2 people read this thing probably… if I’m lucky. This means syncing your calendars and updates as well. You can still retain your branding and conversational language in each website or social network you roam in, so as to communicate with your audience in their vernacular, but all should have access to the same information or at least point to a place where all this information can be had (great for centralizing your traffic to your site and minimizing the need to update 20 profiles). RSS is a great tool for this as well. Many free RSS widgets exist out there and if you hold just one blog where you produce news flashes, you can update many a’site. Blogs also produce permalinks, or individual pages for each post, which means new content on your site, which means search engines have more to try to reference for your band. That last sentence may be a foreign language to some, but believe me, its part of my job, and it is a good thing. Also- DO post songs that you never plan to release, even if they are just for fun, every so often. This can be a great way to re-engage your audience and draw interest while you are in between stages of touring and recording and so forth. Some people are shy, others are a little money-greedy, but neither will produce the value in making your fans feel special and involved.
So what do I mean by NOT updating your website? Your design. I also hate little more than when I go to one of my favorite artists’ sites, and the whole site is redesigned to take on the new album’s look. HATE. It’s not that all the designs are poor or too flashy or matchy-matchy. It is inconsistency in branding and it is too much money/time spent on an unnecessary thing. Firstly, you don’t see other businesses changing their website design every time they launch a new product, do you? Maybe some tweaks here and there, but generally speaking, your band site is reserved for your overall brand. Your band logo, your look and feel. Albums are thematic and like chapters of a book. Your band website is the book. Make sense? Probably all sounds like nonsense, but basically, your website should not rely on how often you release albums and how much money you can spend to make it look like your latest release. Website redesigns should only occur when you have an upgrade in branding or design capabilities, and not often. This doesn’t mean shifting things, this means the overall look and feel. For instance, I once visited an artist site and for a couple of years he had a black and folden yellow website design. I was shocked one day when I returned to check on tour dates and his (hilarious) journal to find it was mostly white with brown text and looked so much more… pale? Weird. As a fan, it was off-putting for some reason. I can’t completely put my finger on it, but it created a bad user experience and I haven’t really visited his website since. And all because his record label assumed his website should look just like his latest record. Ugh.
If you are an artist and have done this design tactic, what has your experience been? Have you seen your traffic increase upon redesigning or do you think it is related to your new record? I’d be curious to hear about hard numbers, as it seems a total waste of money that could be spent on new gear, recording, or traveling and could come at the cost of the band identity.
A Networking Opportunity Oft Missed
So I hate tooting my own horn. Really. There are some occasions where I will pat myself on the back, or that I hope my work goes recognized, but for the most part I shy away from compliments. Especially those related to my work- I guess I just consider it sort of my duty to do good work and good things, and I feel that I let myself and others down if I do anything but.
However, I don’t mind giving props to a customer of mine that was so appreciative of my ordinary answer to one of his support questions, that he went out of his way to blog about it! Rick Roberge, author of the blog The Rainmaker Maker, wrote into HubSpot (where I work in Technical Support) with a question regarding the font size of his blog. This is a reasonable enough question, and one I don’t have to think too deeply to get the answer to- those are our favorite kinds of questions. But Rick took an opportunity to turn a regular support ticket into something more- he gave positive feedback in a very public forum. Not only was this a special treat for me, but it draws attention to the work our company is doing. He also took the higher road by using social media to relay a good experience rather than a less than stellar one. The latter seeks a response to get something; do something for oneself. The former is just plain giving and spreads good will. I like to think that will come back to benefit Rick tenfold. Additionally, it turned my blah morning of a bad night’s rest and getting up early to return a cable box to Comcast into a much brighter day- that is always welcome!
To me, this was just my job- to deliver good service and get the customer the right answer. I didn’t think I did anything worthy of attention. But to Rick and like-minded customers, it is a helping hand and a connection to make that may be able to help them further down the road. Why not take your opportunities with everyday connections and turn them into something more? You never know when and if you may need to call on a favor, and I know that I’ll be pleased to answer a call from Mr. Roberge anytime in the future.
PS- I should give a special thanks to one of our designers, Ken, for having helped me to help Rick… all credit where it’s due!
To retire, or not to retire?
After dwelling on this all night, watching multiple news reports and reading up on articles, I am torn. I’ve blogged about this for the last 5 years or so, and believe me, I’m tired. So tired. It takes a lot of of a gal to love a man… and not just any man. A man of the grid-iron. Brett Favre, you have done it again.
And I am giving in. Why? Well, I am not even sure I completely understand, but I have several reasons- not all selfish.
As Rick Eisen of ESPN has said, it is a hell of a lot more interesting a game to watch with Favre on the field than without. I couldn’t agree more. I honestly wondered how much mind I would pay to the NFL this season with Favre retired. To me, Brett embodies the game- he goes beyond the stats and is truly the person I most associate with football. And that is why I love him. Sure I thought he was a good-looking guy when I was at the ripe age of 9, but that isn’t what has kept me around all these years. My devotion is a testament to how he’s played the game.
Does it disturb me that he’ll be in purple and gold? Umm, yes. Yes would be the answer. But when I really start thinking on it, it’s not like this is the same team he played against in the past, and the Packers are no longer the same team he used to play with. It saddens me to think of all the turnover that occurs on sports teams, but that is another story. With that in mind, however, I should note that I haven’t really felt the rivalry in the past few years. Ever since Randy Moss left the Vikes and all that jazz, they hadn’t really been on my radar. And then after last year’s drama-fest, I started questioning my short-term loyalty to the Pack (I’ll go back one year- the year when Ted Thompson gets the boot). While it was tough enough to cheer on Brett in a Jets uniform (I mean, really, the Jets?), it’s quite another thing to see him as a Viking. Sort of like the practical jokes he used to play on Mike Holmgren.
But what really sealed the deal for me was looking into what he saw in this team, and then, his comments in the press conference regarding his flippity-floppity ways. Even I was disappointed and all “ugh, really?” when I heard the news (I also had a momentary flipout about Tom Brady). But his statements about his legacy being his, and to not watch if I don’t like it, well… that did it. I was once again enamored with my sports hero.
It’ll be an interesting season seeing things through purple and gold.
Back in black… or a floral print actually.
Hey all,
This is just a quick note to let you know I have returned to this blog as being my main area to post. I may continue the one referenced in the previous post, but that may require some rearranging of my schedule. But I’ve just finished school so I should have some more time for these things. “Should” being the operative word.
It’s good to be home!
Where to find me!
So folks, not that it is anything new, but I may need to take a hiatus from this blog to work on a new one and new concept. Please check it out and look for some of my updates here: http://thesoundtracktomylife.wordpress.com/
What else can I say about MJ?
Goodness.. I am godawful about keeping up with this thing. But today was an occasion I felt obligated to write about, being a student of music and all. To those in my generation, it is our version of “the day the music died”. I speak, of course, of Michael Jackson’s passing earlier this afternoon.
Despite the many controversies of his life, his music and entertainment contributions will surpass everything. He was a consummate performer, and really gave his life over to the whims of pop culture. There are many child stars that have gone on to have successful careers, but none will come close to Michael. I try to think of all the artists that came after him and that I grew up with, and who all wouldn’t have existed without him before them. It seems incomprehensible.
Much sympathy to his family and friends, and to those that feel the loss. I hope everyone seeks to remember the good over the bad.
Marketing… Dating… Same thing.
Wow, it’s been a good deal of time since I’ve posted, so I figured I’d grace you with my web presence and opinionated behavior again. Why I chose a topic about dating since I’m all stuffed up with a cold and haven’t really been on a date in forever, I can’t be sure. But one thing is for certain… marketing and dating are pretty much alike. I can’t be the first to write on this topic… Lord knows I am not that original.
I got to thinking about this when a family friend had asked me yesterday if I had any boyfriends, and I replied, “No, boys don’t like me”. Once again this led me down the trail of “why?”’s and thinking about how my friends always score guy attention and I don’t. Well, besides the fact that they are all pretty adorable, my friends have a quality I don’t really hold all that well: confidence in their product. They give a visual and verbal message that they know you want what they’ve got. Some people rock the oversell, and try too hard to convey this confidence, but the product doesn’t match up. Some flat out false advertise, by having a product that doesn’t hold up to their claims.
I try very hard not to be the latter, since it can be a fine line. How do I know what the market thinks of me? Do I really hold as much value as I think I do for the consumer? Then you get into buyer’s remorse… I’d hate to give a person that feeling. I probably have on one or more occassions, only I can say in confidence it was in no part to my marketing messages- I was all too good at giving the fine print and warnings. Their let down was courtesy of their own misconception of what I was offering, convinced that my messaging was somehow downplaying or hiding some other benefit. Weird. I’ve figured that this is a part of a consumer’s need to want to be the trendsetter or innovator… the first to experience a product or the first to make it the popular thing to try.
Then say things happen to work out in the world of dating. Maybe a date or two or more becomes a relationship, which obviously relates to the customer relationship a company has with their consumers. There is, or should be, a constant battle to remain relevant and to appeal to the consumer (significant other). If this relationship fails, it means that one or the other changed their product offering, or their product desires, and the relationship is no longer a beneficial or cost effective one to maintain. It’s time to invest again in customer acquisition, and back to the dating circuit.
Over time, this cycle develops a personal brand for the “marketer” offering the product. They develop a sense of who they are, what they bring to the table, and how they want to convey this so as to find the best possible consumer candidates. Those that fail at this technique are usually those people you see that are constantly entering poor relationships that fail and only serve to distant them from whatever their personal attributes and strengths may be in their product. Sometimes they even stoop to gimmicks, like offering a part of their product line at “low prices” or worse yet, for free, without any real expectation that they can retain the customer. Maybe they give the consumers all the benefits without retrieving any profit, or breaking even (pricing is almost another topic all its own, as there are certainly those that enter the meat market that skim, and others that set themselves low expectations and try to penetrate the market). Without this returned investment from the consumer, the company has no brand loyalty, and can’t be expected to become a part of the consumer’s lifestyle any time soon.
And like there are so many marketing tips and consultant out there, we see dating services and consultants as well… matchmakers if you will. I once worked for a company that tried to become the “Match.com for musicians and promoters”. Though the implementation failed, the concept wasn’t that much of a stretch. All of these people will sell you on similar themes… just about everything in the public sphere is a product that needs “sold”, whether in a literal sense or the figurative, and there are certain methods proven succesful. So what is my point? Not all that sure… other than having noticed the commonalities. I guess it would be that if you have paid for or participated in services or consultation in one… use it in the other and save yourself some bucks.
A feeling of entitlement.
I can’t say I understand it any one bit. Where does one get this idea that the world revolves around them? I figure it’s all in the upbringing and parenting, and so yes- if your kids think they’ll actually get everything they want in the world, chances are I am blaming you. Oops!
The way I see it, there isn’t anyone that owes you anything in this world that you don’t owe something in return to. And when you act as though that isn’t the way things work, you come across a bit…. scratch that… a lot cocky. It’s arrogant. It’s unappealing. It’s boring and overdone. How do you know if you are one of these people? I’ve included a checklist below:
- you roam around the grocery store with a cart and never one stop for anyone or say excuse me
- you push your way in front of people to get on the bus before them, and to make matters worse, you pay in change
- you pretend to know about music that happened before you were born and then argue the points of it with someone who was alive while it happened… and you assume you are right because, why wouldn’t you be?
- you think you shouldn’t have to pay for… anything.
- you slow-walk in the middle of the sidewalk, oblivious to the line of people behind you that you just made miss their bus to work
- you’ve cheated on someone and asked if you could still be friends thereafter
- you stay seated on public transportation with an elderly person standing next to you
- you shove your baby-stroller wherever you please and don’t even bother to look for the feet around you, because “of course” you can since you had sex and conceived and gave birth
- you make everyone’s plans for them and then get upset when they… shocker(!)… have others- god forbid they make plans and not wait to check with you first
- you consume a majority of the tab and suggest splitting evenly
Those are just some examples. There are hundreds more, and who knows, maybe I’ll add some as I encounter them. You know, since I run into these people just about every day of my life. How do you cure this problem? Simple- just begin by reminding yourself that, “Wow! There are other people on the planet!” And then start asking yourself, “gee, I wonder if my actions affect them?” If the answer is yes, then think of ways to minimize that or attone for it. It’s called common courtesy!
Awkward pauses
I’m famous for them really. Awkwardness in general is a forte of mine. But in this case I am regarding the length between my posts.
Truth be told, I struggle a bit with what is worthy of posting. I know that it’s my blog and I can post anything I feel is worth wasting my time writing, but I’d like to think I can provide you something slightly more valuable. Whether it be silly, a story to laugh at, or an opinion about some business practices…
Basically, I’d just like the reading world to know that I do think of my blog, and consider whether what I have to say is good enough to post. I’m not always on target with it, but I hate writing posts and having it feel forced.
So just know that sometimes I might take some long breaks between posts while I wait for a moment of creativity and/or good ideas… and that it’s not you. It’s me.
(Bonus points to me for my Seinfeld reference).
Marketing Tips for DIY Bands… #1
While pondering future jobs, before landing my upcoming gig, I considered doing some freelance marketing for indie bands. I’m familiar with some of the promotional tools for artists, both online and in print, and figured bands didn’t really have the time nor all the knowledge of sites they can use. That’s not the case for everyone, I know- some bands are beyond awesome in their promotional tactics. My only struggle with this idea is that some bands and artists really haven’t the funds for this kind of thing. And if they do invest into it, it is usually for friends to do some graphic design work some press shots. So while I may be able to help those that have it in their budget, I thought it best to offer up some basics here.
The first task at hand for any artist is to determine their “brand”. Bands need brands because the moment they introduce themselves to the public marketplace, they are a business. “Brand” is often applied to just the visual marketing aspects, but it really covers the ground of messaging in verbal communication as well. At its most basic, your brand is what is conveyed and built up through every action an artist takes to communicate something visually or verbally to their audience. This is where the term “brand equity” comes from- you are adding and investing into it constantly, and so it is important to be aware of how your actions affect its worth. The way that your brand is recognized by your audience is… you guessed it; brand recognition. And the ways that you “strategize” and analyze your brand is brand identification (brand identity).
It is important that your brand remain consistent- you wouldn’t want a brand identity crisis! This means taking stock of your musical repertoire; what is your genre(s), your lyrical content, how does the music make people feel, what type of person seems to respond to it? Then consider the image of your band and any audience- is there a style of clothing or a clique that seems apparent and authentic? If you and your fans went shopping at a store, which store would it be? If you were one collective person, what would you look like? Where is your band from? These questions might seem silly, but they really help you to narrow down the consistent qualities of your brand.
Once you have some adjectives that help, be sure it aligns with your band name (if it doesn’t and you haven’t built any fan base under that name, you may want to consider changing it). Then it is time to take this information to a graphic artist to have the abstract ideas turned into a logo for your band. You really want one logo that can have a few variations, maybe in color or positioning. They’re going to consider fonts, design elements, and color palates that convey the adjectives you bring forth. They may want to listen to your music as well, to help them get into it.
Once you have a logo, it’s time to move onto photographs that exhibit this. It’s pretty simple- try to get a friend that has a good eye and a nice digital camera if you can’t afford a professional session. But the photographer should be able to come up with a concept and location that also suits your brand, so you can have some press shots. Live photos are also great to have in your portfolio. And for goodness sake- get an array of full band shots, as well as a few individual photos (as a person that relied on band’s photos to help promote them on a website, I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to sift through and find no close-proximity, full band shots).
And finally, once you have the basic visual content you will need to build up some simple websites and once sheets, it is time to focus on the written message. Get a bio written up that has some craftiness and branding to it. Not a basic bio that just covers where you come from and lists things out in chronological order, but one that has a little something recognizable to your visual brand attributes. Are you silly, serious, poetic, political, brash? Try using appropriate language that displays this to your audience. After all, this is sometimes the first verbal introduction your audience and potential fans will have with you- so start them off with a clear idea of who and what you are right away. Then try to infuse this into interviews, quotes, one sheets, and other promotional tools.
Branding goes into more detail than this, but these are some pretty thorough basics to start with. Give them a try, and then look for other places in your musical career to enforce your brand. When your audience is better able to identify with you and you’ve an easier time making decisions in accordance with your brand, you’ll be happy you took these steps!
PS- If anyone can tell me the proper way to turn “strategy” into a verb, extra points for you.
