Before going into the steps, I want to make sure I have your attention. In our mantra of “Always Be Converting,” “converting” is obviously the key term, so say it with me, “CONVERT.” Very good. Now let’s continue with our program.

To be clear, this is the basic thought process you should have to optimizing your fan conversion points. At larger companies, the process is a bit more complicated, but in the end, most follow the same concept. If you set up a business, then you need to make sales. In order to sell, you need a storefront. In order to get people through the door, whether physical or virtual, you have to announce yourself or communicate with potential customers.

The only way you can make a living is by making money, which has to be your key endpoint for your fan conversion funnel.

When you get really sophisticated, you can begin to customize your customer or fan experience based on their preferences. These four steps will show you how you get to that level of sophistication.

2012 is a much-discussed year in the two most controversial areas known to man – religion and politics. Regardless of what you believe, you probably are still going to work on your music business. As 2012 is quickly approaching, you probably should set some SMART goals for it.

Here are our SMART music business goal recommendations for 2012.

Legitimize Your Music Business by Incorporating

Sometimes we all need a kick in the pants. We get lazy and stoic when massive activity is not transpiring. This happens often to music acts, especially when only meager results are attained from our efforts.

When it comes to keeping your music business alive, it helps to have some extended motivation. One great way to extend it is to run your operation like a real business.

The best way to accomplish that is by actually establishing an S-corp, (Low-profit) Limited Liability Corporation or even just a DBA.

As a real business, the money you spend on instruments, legal and web development are viewed as expenses. You can possibly deduct those expenses on your taxes. If that does not alter the way you think about how you work, what will?

Running a legitimate business adds an allure of seriousness. Seriousness can be scary to creatives. Thing is, if you are not serious about what you do, do you think anyone else will?

Setting up a formal business should not be taken lightly. Visit the Small Business Administration to get more information on starting a business.

Define Who Your Customer Is

If you vibe with the 1000 true fan concept, then answer this. What are your true fans like? Do you really know what they want or expect from you?

One of our most popular posts offers 5 steps to getting 1000 true fans. Then we offered some music industry secrets to complement these steps. One of the biggest secrets we shared was the art of LISTENING.

Once you define who is going to help you stay in music business, LISTEN. Take the time to get acquainted with these people. They are all individuals. Therefore you will need to figure out how to deal with their unique habits.

Which leads us to our final S.M.A.R.T. music business goal recommendation…

Photo by birgerking / Birger Hartung

Establish a RELEVANT Rhythm Keeping up with Your Customer

If you read how Stones Throw is losing, you know the lesson. Do not assume that your audience just wants to hear everything about you.

It might help to survey your true fans to figure out what they want. Ask them how often they would like to hear from you. Ask them what would they want to know. Once you do that, set up your communications to fit their preferences.

This can mean you will need multiple lists in your email service. You may need to set up a Facebook group for the rabid true. The only way for you to know though is to ASK and LISTEN.

Okay, that is it for us. What about you?

What are your goals for 2012? Are you intending for this to be your breakout year? Let me know in the comments. Everyone that does will be invited to a new mastermind group I am starting.

When you think about what you have done to build your music business today, how confident are you in your efforts being effective?

Hopefully, the things you did today were aligned to your mission of connecting with your fans. If not, we have more work to do that you know.

It is amazing how many artists are not building programs to convert new fans.

Today, I want to introduce a concept that I do not see addressed when folks provide advice to artists – fan conversion.

It may not seem like a groundbreaking idea, but I rarely see people putting in the time and effort to really create engagement experiences that are designed to turn a passive listener into an avid fan.

If you think these statements are annoying because you believe the music should do the converting, then you can leave now. Best wishes on your magical music saving your career.

This is serious. You know that you need fans to survive. Fans pay the bills.

It is amazing how many artists are not building programs to convert new fans.

One-off campaigns do not count either. Fan acquisition needs to be a round-the-clock affair.

Let’s get basic here, let’s talk about the ABC of music marketing.

Always Be Converting

As the head of your music business, you should know your bottom line is affected by your ability to keep your fan base happy and growing.

That is why it makes sense for everything you do to be motivated by your fans.

When you build your website, you should be envisioning the fan experience when you hit your site.

When you set up your Facebook page and you begin to beg for likes, you should make sure you are providing them something of value there as well.

Your merchandise should be items that your converted fans actually want so much that they are willing to tell their friends about you, which is another conversion point.

Hopefully, you see where I am going with this.

No idea is original. I did not come up with “Always Be Converting” by myself. In fact, it was only when I saw a great marketing copy blog on the need for all copy to be written to convert did I think I was onto something.

Here is a quick story of how important conversion is.

This website gets solid traffic, due to search. FiV is always optimizing for particular keywords, so they can be found by the people that need them.

Yet the green “Subscribe” button in the header rarely gets touched; even though, it is quite visible.

The FiV email list is a measly number of subscribers.

Something had to be done.

Unnecessary elements on the page have since been removed that were deemed distracting.

In the last two posts, an email signup form was added to the end of the copy.

I bet you can guess what happened. Yep, email subscribers increased.

Here’s the crazy part – email subscribers increased by 100%!

That is why it was clear that it is time to get serious about conversion.

I want to help music artists become better business owners.

The only way I can do that is by making sure I am optimizing for your attention.

In the coming weeks, I will share how you can begin to optimize for your target consumer. Hopefully, you will stick around for that.

As you re-consider how you handle your music business, where do you think you can better convert listeners into fans? Let me know in the comments.

I have been a fan of Stones Throw Records since the late 90s.

I enjoy their brand of music. It always seems as if they understand their target audience.

That is until the music industry started to tank.

Then they realized they needed to ante up on the creativity.

This meant releasing new music styles and creating purchase-worthy physical goods.

Stones Throw… made me feel inadequate.

That got me to thinking, “do they really understand their customers?”

Now this was not a problem for me.

The release of long-time acquaintance Mayer Hawthorne was genius.

James Pants – I get it.

Anika – they had me at the single; lost me at the album (sorry folks).

This activity actually was strengthening my Stones Throw advocacy.

What put me off was during the release of the first Mayer Hawthorne album.

Collectables on top of Collectables

They released the heart-shaped 45, which was supposed to be a limited run.

I bought two copies, thinking it was definitely going to be an instant collector’s item.

They released some subsequent 45s, which I also copped.

Then something weird happened.

They released a second run of the heart-shaped 45s.

That was when I got a little upset.

Then there was additional vinyl coming behind it.

A remix 12″. Another 45. An alligator-skin-embossed double LP.

That is when I am thinking, “Stones Throw, you are killing me here!”

Now my “investments” have been rendered dubious and I cannot afford to be the fan I’d like to be.

Stones Throw, you made me feel inadequate.

That got me to thinking, “do they really understand their customers?”

We have been in an interesting period in the economy. Why release so much material?

It would seem a better business strategy would be to sell out of your goods to heighten demand for upcoming releases.

If people knew that a Mayer Hawthorne 45 is going to double in value within minutes of selling out, you would sell them faster.

In turn, this would give you room to charge more for your products.

That is what Third Man Records does.

Sure, they know that people buy their stuff, only to resell them. That sucks.

Yet it does not stop them from sticking to releasing high quality product that is desired by their target audience.

I get email blasts from Stones Throw that make me want to unsubscribe and end my relationship from them.

Why? Simply, the feeling that they do not understand me – a long-time fan – has not gone away.

I am receiving large notices highlighting a lot of news that I do not want.

I am a fan of certain artists on their label – J Dilla, Mayer Hawthorne, Madlib, Heliocentrics and others.

I really only want to hear about things regarding artists that I have purchased.

I hope you see where I am going with this.

Stones Throw should have this information on me. If they do not, they are leaving money on the table.

Segmenting Their Customer List Will Increase Their Sales Efforts

I truly believe this.

Instead of sending a general onslaught of material to a general list, customize emails to particular fans.

Madlib fans should be a list. Fans of DAM-FUNK should be another.

There are those that only care about instrumental releases. That can be another list.

Segmenting your lists will help you provide relevant content to the people that keep you in business.

Marketing is everywhere. We have learned how to ignore it.

I still read the Stones Throw emails, because I have hope they will get better.

At the same time, I also do not want to miss out on the next big thing.

I just bought the DOOM “Rhymes Like Dimes” 7-inch.

If I did not get the email, then I would have never known.

Thing is, I wish I would be sent a message specifically when new DOOM material is available. That’s it.

I hope someone at Stones Throw reads this. I still rock an ST t-shirt from 2004. I have been thinking about donating it to the Salvation Army. Please do not force my hand. Get with the times and segment your customer lists.

Questions for Music Business CEOs on the Rise
ARe yoU segmenting your contact lists? If so, how many segments do you have?
Do you think I am being too harsh on Stones Throw?
What other ways do you think you can personalize the customer experience when it comes to your music business?

There comes a time where you have to address the elephant in the room.

It has to be said. Musicians suck as bosses.

photo by tiarescott

Some rap artists would have you believe they are the very definition of “boss.”

That is the greatest fallacy ever put to record in quite some time.

Just as companies go through personnel changes, so do bands.

Band members come; band members go.

Managers are here today, gone tomorrow.

It is time musicians come to grips with this, if they ever plan to have a sustainable career.

Without goals and a general plan of action, a business owner cannot expect to succeed.

Independent musicians need to understand that they are inherent business owners.

Therefore, you need to look at your productions as business assets.

You have to understand what value your productions have and to whom.

Artists never seem to think like this. Everything is a gamble.

“If I make it, they will come.” Okay, Robert Redford.

For those that want to stop the insanity, you need to realize where you are failing yourself. It is not because you are not working hard. You are not working intelligently. Here are the biggest holes in your business that are keeping you from progressing.

SMART Goals Are Non-Existent

If you do not have a good grasp on why you are looking to do music professionally, then you should stop wasting your time. If it is “all you want to do,” then how are you actually going to make that a reality? Have you done any research? Do you know where you will find income?

SMART goals can guide you in your quest to doing music full-time. Goals help you come up with a strategic plan. Goals help you temper expectations while at the same time keeping you focused and inspired.

Having a Good Team is an Afterthought

As stated in the beginning of this post, many bands see people come and go in various capacities. Most of the time it is due to people have conflict of interests. Sometimes it is because a person just is not into it.

When you are working towards your goals, you need to make sure you surround yourself with people that will help you achieve them. It is not enough to just be friends with them, if your friends are lazy or negative. When you have goals, you should be driven by purpose. The people around you should understand your purpose and look to complement your efforts. Those that detract from your mission, remove them.

It is hard to run a business by yourself. Good help is hard to come by though. Learn what you can handle on your own and then look to find good people to support in the areas you need help.

Don’t Lead By Example

This goes towards the team concept. You cannot expect your team to work harder than you and if they are, shame on you. As the head of your music business empire, you need to out-work everyone. It is your business after all, which dovetails into…

Managers are Employees, Not Genies, Slaves and/or One-Man Shows

Music managers seem to be misunderstood. Some music managers misunderstand themselves. Simply stated, a manager is your employee. He/She works for you. Their job is to make sure you are getting optimal results from your business decisions.

Yes, traditionally music managers serve as part-legal staff, part-security and part-counselor. The thing is, with so many artists in independent capacities, there is not enough money in it for an individual to wear all those hats. That needs to be parsed among multiple people.

You can help those that manage or consult you by making sure you have a firm grasp on what you want to accomplish. Most artists do not take the time to establish this and that is where they are doomed for failure. Acts like N SYNC got jerked, because they did not know any better until it was too late. Learn about the business first before you start seeking a manager, then remember that your manager works for you, not vice versa.

PR Isn’t Cake Icing

This section should generally state, “do not assume good music will find its audience.” You have to put in the work. There are countless acts like you. If you want to stand out, then you need to be remarkable.

Publicity is not a fringe benefit. It is necessary for success. If people are not talking about you, then you are non-existent. You should not waste your time, if you are not willing to build buzz. The one place that you should seriously consider investing (beyond a solid website) is in a publicist.

These are areas that you need to re-think if you want to have a career in music. It is all hard work, but if you really want it, it will feel like a vacation. That said, I am here to help. Let me know in the comments how you feel you can improve as the owner of your music business.

SoundCloud is probably the best SaaS (Software as a Service) platform available to musicians to date. It is easy to use and widely accepted by music creators and music lovers alike.

But with every good thing comes an annoying a$$hole though.

At one point on this blog, I posted the “song submission” widget in the sidebar. It generated no interest, so I removed it. No big deal, it just did not seem that artists were actively sharing their songs that way.

If music bloggers were smarter, they would demand songs be sent to them via SoundCloud. I’m digressing though.

Recently, I had noticed a weird trend in my email alerts from SoundCloud. I was magically receiving a lot of followers when I was barely using the service.

It was not until I noticed the same individual was following me multiple times that I decided to investigate.

Now the above image is hard to see, but it shows the dubious activity that triggered me to look into my recent popularity.

I do not know who “Fista Cuffs” is, but I must admit I was intrigued. I did not expect anything worthwhile, but I expected to at least get a good chuckle at his or her expense.

Then I noticed “Fista Cuffs” sent me a private track. Curious. What did I do to deserve such a treat?

Wait. I am not special. This was sent to 10872 people. What are the odds that this person actually knows even 1% of these people?

My guess is 10873 to 1.

Of course, I realized what this was. It reminds me of the #TEAMFOLLOWBACK movement on Twitter. I was being conjoled into boosting this person’s social stats on a platform that wants to encourage the sharing of music, not the spamming of content.

I am not going for that. Never have; never will.

It was not until I decided to work on this blog post that I take the time to actually review the private track I was sent.

Turns out “Fista Cuffs” is no longer on SoundCloud. Kudos SoundCloud!

Moral to the Story

Being an annoying a$$hole will not get you far in life. You might achieve some minor gains, but long-term you will lose. If you are truly trying to build a music career, take your time and build relationships the old-fashioned way. “Hi. My name is Lars Ulrich and I am the drummer in a band called Metallica. I love music. How about you?”

In order to get to the 1000 true fans, there are no magic tricks available. It takes time, hard work and dedication.

Numbers do not matter, if they are not actionable. If you cannot get 10% of 100 to do your bidding, what is the point? An email list is only as strong as the open rate.

You cannot game your way into being successful. It is not good to speak in definitives, so here is an exception. You can game towards success, but it is not likely you will have a stress-free life and/or have many real friends in the process. Keep that in mind.

Stop chasing numbers and stick to chasing your dreams. Who really fantasizes about having 30,000 Twitter followers or 5000 SoundCloud listens? If you do, leave me a note in the comments. I want to talk to you.

TEDxDetroit is less than two weeks away and I am still working on the music line-up for the big event. The coordination process has not been easy, considering how long I have been courting certain bands. Regardless of that, I am still excited about the line-up I have curated and confident that the TEDxDetroit audience will be delighted by the musical entertainment.

When I think about my dismal acceptance rate of my first round of bands that I asked to play, I find myself concerned with the state of Detroit’s music scene when TEDxDetroit does not have the cachet to draw the best up-and-coming acts. It is possible that the TEDxDetroit group has not done the best job in engaging the general arts community in a way that makes people feel like we are a worthy platform, but the fact of the matter is, this year will be the biggest yet and it may not get any bigger. In fact, it could get smaller.

Image by goingslo via Flickr

Of course, the town crier in me finds this an opportunity to teach. For those that are trying to get their music heard in the most opportunity-rich scenarios, it is time to review how we pick and choose which venues / shows to play. Why you ask? Simply put, it seems one too many band agents look a gift horse in the mouth and for some reason do not like what they see.

Before I go into lending any advice, I want to make clear that I do believe that bands and band managers should scrutinize every opportunity. It just makes sense, not to mention a good practice for the music business. If you are highly discerning at every point, you never have to worry about anyone taking it as a slight. As the Director of Music at TEDxDetroit, I appreciate artists that vet me and the opportunity that I present. It gives me confidence that they are looking to make sure that we are a good fit for each other. I do not profess to know everything and my work with business-minded music acts help me learn more about the business. That said, you have to know a gift horse when you see one and remember that you are just looking to admire it or see how you can improve its dental hygiene by looking at it in the mouth.

Consider the Source

As I stated earlier, I never take offense to people questioning who I am. No matter how famous I think I am in my head, I know there are many that do not know of me. Most of the acts that are on this year’s TEDxDetroit bill came from referrals from friends or new acquaintances.

When you get a show request, definitely get the person’s credentials. Figure out the person’s track record and history. Ask people in your music scene if the person delivers what he/she promises. If it is a show promoter, find out how the person publicizes their events. Are they strictly using social media? Do they invest any money of their own into the promotion of the event? The answers to these questions should dictate whether you work with this person or not. If they are lame at what they do, then do not bother getting on their bill. That is unless you know that you can take advantage of the situation anyway.

Consider the Audience

One of the things I notice in my local hip hop scene is that there are some of the same people that attend the shows around town. That makes me wonder, what is the point of playing so much to the same people? If anything, we should have more events that have DJs play the music of local acts, instead of the artists performing.

Artists should be strategic when picking what shows to play by considering the anticipated audience. If you are working on new material and just want to get the feedback from your peers, then play a regular local gig that your friends frequent. If you are trying to get out and build up to your 1000 true fans, then you need to play in places where you know you won’t see people you know. An event like TEDxDetroit is a perfect venue if you are looking to get in front of a new audience of generally open-minded individuals. That is not to say that your music is necessarily perfect for the audience, but that is the decision you need to make as a serious artist. Is your thrash metal going to scare an average Joe? Well then, you need to be particular about who you try to entertain.

Consider the Potential

Sometimes it is not enough to just dodge shady promoters or finding the right audience. Depending on where you live, you may not have that many opportunities. Then you need to hit the road and look to make opportunities happen. If the lessons I’ve learned from managing Progress Report, I know that you hit a stage where you just have to consistently work. Make music, tour and connect with fans, then do it again. The idea is that each time out, we should have a few more people into our products. It takes work, but you knew that, right?

Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth is NOT for Kids

It is hard out here. The music industry is cut-throat. Crabs in a barrel, depending on where you live. Bands throw shows simply to have a place to play. Hopefully, their fans / friends are open-minded and you can sell a few CDs. You might pick up another gig put on by another band. You grind your gears trying to make some distance on the same hamster wheel as thousands before you. It does not come as a surprise that you could miss a great opportunity, due to exhaustion. That is why you need to take the emotional triggers out of the equation and review each scenario by your contact, the gig’s anticipated audience and the real potential of the opportunity.

Am I missing something? What else do you think should be considered when trying to assess a gig?

That's me on the left tweeting snarky messages.

On Thursday, May 12, 2011, I participated in a panel covering “Social Media & the Arts.” The esteemed panel had various brilliant minds from Detroit’s music, fashion and traditional design inner-worlds. The event was impressive. I have to admit that my friend, Sola Obayan of BTO Solutions, did a great job with the help of a few key folks. The event impacted me so much that I have been inspired to write some new posts.

First order of business, the one thing that was missing for this month’s Social Media is a Party was Detroit’s talented music business professionals. There were a few musicians in the house, but there should have been more. I take some responsibility for that, but there are many days where I just want to host a support group with like-minded people. That being said, I want to have an event with the following people:

• Scott and Janel Boyink of Hype Ignition
• Jasper and Jay of Five Three Dial Tone Records
• Sam Valenti IV and Jeremy Peters of Ghostly International
• Shannon DeVries of Six Two Productions
• The People Behind Black Milk
• All of A-Side Worldwide
• Dominic Arellano and the rest of the Forward Arts team
• Kelly “K-Fresh” Frazier of The Loop Detroit

… and many many others

I am setting the stage as I believe Detroit music business professionals are key to the revitalization of our region.. Where are you guys? When can we get together? What do you think we should discuss? I know I have many topics I could pine about extensively, but I want to hear from you – my peers.

Image by DavidErickson via Flickr

Taking a break from our regularly-scheduled program, I must ask a favor of all my readers, no matter where you are. I have prepared an entry for a presentation competition called Ignite. As some of you may remember, I wrote a piece about a lesson we can learn from the first line that many of us ever heard uttered by the rapper known as Vanilla Ice. My preoccupation with the former pop star has extended to watching his failed biopic – Cool as Ice – which generated new educational fodder. This time, I want to present it to a live audience.

All I need for you to do is go to my Ignite Detroit 2 voting page and lend me up to THREE (3) votes, which is the maximum that you can offer to one topic. If I get picked to showcase, I will be sure to write up a post to let you know where you can watch it on the web. To make this easier, just use this link – http://fryingve.in/iklvee – then share with some friends and them to do the same. I appreciate it.

For more information about Ignite Detroit 2 at Sound Board in the Motor City Casino Hotel  (which is going to be sweet, by the way), go to http://ignitedetroit.net

Signed,

Peer Pressure Cooker™

Your band’s album has been mixed and mastered.

All the creative design elements have been finalized and accepted.

You know you need an optimized website built for lead generation.

You plot to use your social channels to drive potential fans to the website either through a free song or a new video.

Obviously, you are not going to get fans without help, so you start by engaging your friends and family.

The reception for your feature media piece is well-received. It starts to get shared a bit.

As the e-mail list grows, you get excited. Things seem to be working.

Then you realize something. This is going to be more difficult than you thought.

No Matter How Much You Plan, Some Things Will Be Out of Your Control

Since late in 2010, I have been in consulting mode with a Detroit hip hop duo (D. Allie and Eddie Logix) by the name of Progress Report. It is not something of a novelty that I consult music acts, but I try my best to be sparing with my time. When I do decide to dedicate significant time, it usually means the act is special.

What made Progress Report special to me was simple. I was shown a investor proposal. In all my years being around musicians, I never knew any artist to have a business plan. This is not to say that artists do not write business plans. I just had not seen one in my young life.

The investor proposal was enough to intrigue me into dedicating a considerable amount of ideas, time and energy into seeing Progress Report have a successful launch of their debut record. The duo has put in even more time and energy, which has kept me motivated. As a young business owner, I made it a point to coach the guys into seeing what they were doing was a part of running a business. They made a product that they want to sell, so they needed to do things in a manner that will present value to the desired consumer. Fortunately, this was never a hard sell.

it is all in the details

In preparation for Progress Report’s debut releases, we did the following:

• Used Kickstarter to generate over $4500 in “start-up cash.”
• Re-designed the website to simplify the site structure and optimize for appropriate lead generation.
• Hired a publicist to allow the guys to focus on on-the-ground event promotion and overall fan engagement.
• Ran a contest, during the site re-design, to build up the e-mail list using donated swag from local music, clothing and food companies.

From these bullets, you would think we were textbook winning. I am here to tell you that while we have been doing okay there is still that layer of uncertainty that we all know. Being in the belly of the beast [admittedly for the actual first time], I have learned you rarely can plan something perfectly.

This might sound trite, but truth is truth. The dates I had down in spreadsheets, Post-it notes and moleskins were not scripture. The process I had envisioned became a clouded silhouette. If we were not so determined, this project could have easily been derailed. Luckily, our egos were in check and we were malleable to the situation.

We circumvented every slight setback and powered through each obstacle. We had to change CD replication companies. Our press goals had to be adjusted. The website is still a work-in-progress. The contest did not happen as announced. At the end of the day though, we still had an album that has been mixed and mastered for almost a year. It was time for it to be available to the world, so we made due with what we were able to manage.

Sure, I could say we just needed more time, but we needed to go ahead and do this. Honestly, I guarantee we would still have had snags. It is just the way it is. I needed this experience to see how things really work. It was time to put the books away and go to work. I am all the better for it.

What is your most cherished lesson from running a campaign for a music project? Please share with me in the comments.

The Musician’s Guide to Affordable Effective Websites is a recent post on Ariel Publicity that that struck a chord. While there was nothing that was necessarily wrong with it, the air around it does not quite sit well. Sure, if you do not have thousands of dollars of accessible funds for the purposes of advancing your music career, you will look for the cost-effective solutions to doing so. That is smart. That said, you should invest as much as you can to get the best result.

It is not going to be constructive to facilitate an argument discuss the importance of using artists premium products for business purposes. Instead it is best to just add to the advice that has been presented by Ariel Publicity. You have been given 7 reasons why you should have your own music website, so it only makes sense that line of education should be continued.

If you do not have even an indie label budget to afford the development of a professional website, then you should figure out exactly what you truly need in a website. When it comes to web design, simpler is usually better. The less distraction you attach to the web experience, the likelier you will be able to achieve a certain reaction from site visitors. Without further ado, here are a set of questions you should answer before you begin to explore any affordable, effective music website option.

Who do I expect to visit my site?

When you build it, your friends, family and acquaintances will come. Knowing that, it makes sense to make it easy to help them spread the word about your website. Consider using a service like LaunchRock to build your e-mail subscriber list. When you launch your actual website, equip the site with Facebook and Twitter share buttons for key pages. The goal should be to drive new visitors to your site and your existing network is your best resource to get affordable, effective help.

Upon first visit, what do I want a new visitor to do?

If you have a hard time answering the previous question, try:

What is most important for a new visitor to do? Listen to music? Sign-up for your informational newsletter? Buy your new single?

When you ask these questions, you will have a good basis for what you need from your website. When it comes to building a new brand, it is always best to use the KISS method when dispensing communication. Before you go and create the same standard music website that everyone seems to make that do not drive action, take some time to ask the above questions. You will be glad you did.

Do you know what you need in a website? I can help you with an affordable, effective music website. Contact me!

Image by Julia Roy via Flickr

It goes without saying that Tumblr has been gaining in popularity recently. Many of the (micro)blogging platform’s users swear by it for its simplicity and snazzy themes, most of which are available for free. WordPress has been a favorite for the majority of people have self-hosted blog websites. That is why it makes sense to do a comparison to give you a good idea, which is the best option for the serious music act. It is my opinion that both should be used, but the strategies for usage should be different.

For my Tumblr site (hubertsawyers.com), I used to have Shelf (affiliate link). As I like to lead by example, please do not expect to be impressed by my posts. I have gone back to the drawing board with my usage of Tumblr. I hope that my explanation of the pros and cons for both WordPress and Tumblr will be helpful to us both in figuring out how to best use the services.

Which is Better for Musicians?

WordPress (.com or self-hosted)

Pros

• Easy to use
• Open source (self-hosted)
• Thousands of themes for a customized look or feel
• Thousands of plugins to do just about anything you can imagine
• Tons of support from web hosts

Cons

• If you are not web savvy, there may be some headache in getting acclimated
• Similar to maintaining a home, it takes work

Tumblr

Pros

• Ease of Use
• Social Connectivity
• Content Feed
• Mobile-Friendly
• Ask Function
• Growing Community / Popular

Cons

• Not open source
• Goes down constantly
• Sharing and comment features are awkward

WordPress vs Tumblr – The Final Verdict

If you are just starting out with your first website and you are new to things like blogging, then Tumblr is a great training option. Tumblr will get you in the habit of engaging with other micro-bloggers, which may acclimate you in an addictive way. It will spoil you with having everything in one nice dashboard. When you realize you need to optimize your site to build an e-mail list or have a place for your electronic press kit, then you will have outgrown Tumblr.

WordPress is great as an all-around website option. You may need to hire someone to help you build your ideal site, but the investment will be worth it. The potential for your site will be endless and if you pick the right web hosting company, then your site will rarely go down like with Tumblr.

For well-built WordPress and Tumblr themes, consider Theme Foundry. Tell them Hubert Sawyers III sent you!

Image via Wikipedia

I want to thank Saron “Sean Uppercut of Detroit CYDI” Dier for the inspiration of this piece.

Music. Marketing. Social Media. Twitter. Facebook. YouTube. Blogging. RSS feeds. Viral. Insert buzzword here.

When taking the plunge into the sinkhole that is Internet, it will get overwhelming if you are not properly equipped. You need a map, a flashlight and possibly a hard hat.

This does not mean there is not an easier way to deal with the inevitable evil that is marketing your music online. You just need to learn how to simplify things, so without further ado, let’s get to the advice you came to get.

If you plan to have a music career, then you need to consider this simple content strategy for musicians when approaching your craft. Now depending on where you are in your creative process, you may be able to skip a few stages.

Note: this is more of a plan than an actual strategy. Going through these stages though will help you plot a proper strategy when it comes time to marketing the music and supplementary content that you make because of it.

Stage One – Set SMART Goals for Content Creation

That’s right. It is best to know where you want to go before you get started. This is not to say you can control what kind of music you will make, but you can control how much you would like to make and when you plan to get it done. We all believe we are just creative geniuses, but you know that if you leave it up to good old Inspiration to get working, you may not even punch-in.

Stage Two – Create Content Within SMART Timeframe

Have at it. Make all the music you can. Make sure you record the process with cameras and with journal entries. Go crazy and post occasional tweets and Facebook updates about your work as well. Your SMART goals should guide you on your bare minimum, by the way.

Stage Three – Access Content After Deadline

Time is up. What do you have? Is there an album in all the tracks you recorded? Are there multiple projects?

Use this period to figure out what you made and what you can do with it. Try not to forsake these efforts. If you thought everything was bad, why did you wait until the deadline to decide that? To avoid doing that, set periodic mini-assessment times to go over what you are making. Better yet, stop being so hard on yourself.

Stage Three point Five – Create Supplementary Content to Finish Projects

You might realize that you almost have enough for a full album or there are a few songs that need tweaking. Take this time to tackle that and also add any supplementary content that you can distribute with the main material you created. This includes music videos, remixes, photo shoots, etc.

Stage Four – Develop Marketing / Engagement Strategy

Your project is done. You now need to figure out how to market it. The best way to do this is considering who your ideal consumer (read: FAN) will be and establish how you envision reaching them. This is where you get specific on where the content will go and how you plan to deliver it.

Need help coming up with a clever strategy? I am here to help.

Stage Five – Implement Marketing / Engagement Strategy

Do what the title says.

Stage Six – Access Results of Engagement Plan

This is the part where the instructions go, “Rinse. Go Back to Stage Four and Repeat.”

Actually, you should monitor your results throughout the process to make adjustments, but when you are done, do a final review. Establish what worked and what did not. This will help you when you go back to Stage One and do it all over again.

Content Strategy Simplied – Plan, Create, Assess, Plan, Market

In short, the simple way to an effective content strategy is make your content first within a certain timeframe, then examine what you have. When you have made sense of what you made, then you can finally develop and implement a marketing strategy.

It really does not do any good to ponder creative business activity when you are trying to be creative musically. Some might say it ruins the sauce. Regardless of that, it is best to focus on doing one thing really well. That does not mean you cannot stay in touch with your fans or build new relationships, just know there should not be a major business focus to it.

Justin Boland of Audible Hype recently had a guest post by hip hop performance artist Kosha Dillz. Dillz lends advice that is not often uttered by any artist, much less someone in hip hop. His post “Help Yourself by Helping Others” feels like it is right out of the FiV playbook. While it would be nice to say that it was, it is likely that Dillz’s compassionate side is probably as natural to him as it is learned.

Here is where the church of FiV says “AMEN” –

Fact is people help you out for the sake of helping out. We are all living the dream. They might not even like the music but might find someone who will, and they want to support, all of us.

This is the brass tax. It is not about what you are to get out of it. It is about supporting one another with the idea that you believe we are all pursuing our calling. It is about paying it forward to the next man.

As always, it is the practice here to supply you with usable advice and even tactical information that you can put into action immediately, so without further ado, here are ways to help others

Use your social media accounts

… to do more than just promote yourself and alert people to what kind of fast food you plan to have.

• Twitter – If you were to post ten (10) tweets in a day, try to make at least five (5) of them helpful to your followers. Tackle two things with one move by sharing content by other creatives or businesses that you support. That still give you four (4) tweets to overshare about your bathroom habits and one (1) “ask” of your followers.
• Facebook (regular account) – Respect your friends and share things with them that they will not find anywhere but you. Why waste time and bog up everyone’s news feed with trite material that everyone spews. Status updates have stronger staying power, so you don’t need to post more so much to gain attention. Again, consider pushing the work of others before yours, because more than likely, your friends know what you do.
• Facebook (fan page) – Again, updates on Facebook last longer, so make them count. Also consider building your long-tail with content that you would like to be associated. The more interesting your fan page is, the more likely people will actually visit it and see what you have going.
• YouTube – Music videos and vlogs are great, especially if you can keep them going with some consistency. If you want more views, engage other artists on their profiles. The more active you are, the better chance you have to get your content showing more as “related videos” and the like. Plus you help others build their credibility on YouTube by interacting with them!

What advice do you have for folks interested in trying to “give first?”

If one of your 2011 SMART goals is to blog more, then great! Blogging is a great way to build your long-tail and strengthen the search engine optimization (aka SEO) on your website with fresh content. Were you lost at “long-tail?” Well, fear not. Basically, the more you blog about certain subjects, the more likely that search engines will acknowledge your site for it. That is why it is good to use well-placed phrases or keywords in your posts, because when the search engines comb your site, they will note them.

Now you might wondering, “how do I know what keywords to try to be known for on Google?” This is a segment that I plan to discuss extensively here on FiV Alive. You will find that there are opportunities to be had on the interwebs for specific things that may resonate well with who you and your music are. In the meantime, consider writing down who you are and what you create in the form of a mind map.

photo by dumbledad

What is a Mind Map?

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.

When working on your music blogging strategy, it is best to have your blog posts to be linked to you and your music. A mind map can help you visually figure out where to start. If you are as bright as I think you are, then you probably realize blog posts about you will get boring pretty quick if you are posting at least once a week. That is why it is better to spread the love around and share things that may be near and dear to you, but not so YOU-specific.

Mind mapping can help you segment your interests in neat sections. It is in these sections that you can pull blog ideas. If you are passionate about muscle cars, 50s paraphernalia and leather, then it will be good to share those things. When Google, Bing and Yahoo! pick up on it, so will the people that are interested in the same things. Post the right stuff and you can get a post to go viral, then you are really cooking with gas!

Organizing Your Mind Map

The other day on Hip Hop Distribution, they posted a content checklist PDF to help you organize your blog ideas, which is crucial if you really plan to blog regularly. Sometimes the creativity may be running a little low and you will want to post something. It is always best to work on your ideas in advance. Download their checklist and put it to use after you mind map your music identity. There is a cool tracking section of the checklist, which is also great in terms of figuring out where you should concentrate your writing time.

Now this is where you help me organize my post topics, is there anything in this article that you would like fleshed-out? Would it do you any good to see mind mapping in action? Let me know!

I posted a fourth music industry “secret” on Music Think Tank, which is a music community resource for news, marketing tips and other relevant information. The fourth “secret” is Have Integrity. Give it a read, leave a comment and share it.

While you are on Music Think Tank, poke around and read some of the posts on the main page. That is where I found the post by Michael Brandvold that inspired the 7 Reasons to Build Your Own Music Website. If you have music that you want to try and get more exposure, they have a place where you can post your music. The site has a little something for everyone that is interested in the world of music.

Enough about that though.

It’s Hammer Time.

"Hammer Cuddle" by Tiffany Day

When this posts, many of us will be contemplating how to make the new year better than the last. If you fall into this subset of humans, consider this anecdote provided by Eric Galen of Music180. In dropping “The Science of Becoming a Rock Star,” he shares a lesson he learned from his college professor on how one could tap a stick of dynamite with a pencil a thousand times and nothing will happen, but one blow from a hammer will make it explode. Instead of doing a bunch of little things to try to achieve a bigger result, consider what one big thing you could do to reach a greater goal. Galen sums it up best here:

To take your career to the next level, you’ll save time and money – and increase your chance of success – by focusing on the hammer and ignoring the pencil. Figure out what next step will have the biggest impact on your career, and concentrate your time and money on that.

With that, I deem 2011 is Hammer Time in every which way it can be viewed. Let’s all be a bit smarter about how we spend our time, so we can leave room to review, repair and retry if need be. In the meantime, let Hammer himself inspire you into the new year.

If you do not have an autonomous website for your band’s music, then I really doubt your seriousness. The cost that it requires to get a basic site up is so low there just is not any excuse to not have one. In fact, in a couple clicks, you have a domain from GoDaddy.com  for around $10, then buy a year of web hosting from Bluehost for less than $100/year. Bluehost has automated features to install content management systems like WordPress for free. Considering there are thousands of free templates to personalize your WordPress page, you have the lowest barrier of entry to building your own music website in the history of Internet.

Some of you may think this topic is a retread and you would be right. I talked about this before on a piece featuring digital marketing expert Chris Brogan. That matters not, because I have not seen a proliferation of websites by the artists that are supposedly working hard to be heard and gain fans. Therefore, I write. Let’s review the seven reviews.

Legitimacy

Sorry if this offends your senses, but let’s face it. You know you care about what people think. That is why you post your music on the web in the first place. Give yourself that additional piece of status.

Autonomy

I mentioned it before in the other piece, but it begs repeating. You have no control over the actions of Facebook and MySpace, which legally can do whatever they want because most people are using their sites for free. You should not rely on another to help you get your message across in the right way. You need to be in total control.

Control

Yes, this coincides with the point of autonomy, but you must understand – YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH YOUR OWN WEBSITE. Want to show post a video that shows artfully-displayed nipples? Do not even think about it on YouTube or Vimeo. They do not care about art! The Moral Right has way more clout than you. Plus you can create the facade of your dreams with the right designer.

Flexibility

I am going to drill this point home. You can do whatever you want with your own website. Want your fans to focus on keeping the idea of buying your new record on their mind without having to update them daily? You can do it with your own website. You can get into landing pages and optimizing your site design, which is not really possible with the social networking sites. Then you can change things up again. It is your site!

Information

In the other post, I called it “analytics.” I am dumbing it down though here. It is about INFORMATION. How can you ever understand the who, what, where, why and hows on the relevance of your work without it? Google Analytics will be your best friend when you come to learn it. If you use WordPress though, they have a stats generator that will tide you over until you get more education.

Simplication

I hear a lot of complaints from artists regarding all the sites they “need to be on” to get their music heard. Personally, I think lies are being told. You do not need to be anywhere. Can having a Twitter or Facebook account help? Oh heck yeah, it can, but it is not necessary.

Instead of pondering which social network to focus on, focus on your own website. Make your life and the life of your (potential) fans easy. Have one place for all your information to be found. Sure, people can discover you on Twitter, but you should want them to check out your website. That is where you can truly get their attention.

Keeping it simple is great, but realize that social networks are tools that can help you make new fans. They can also be helpful in other ways too. Music marketing master Michael Brandvold gives some excellent advice on how you can use social networks to drive traffic to your site.

Potential

On this site, I plan to talk about a lot about opportunities in the new age of promoting music. One of the biggest, undersold places where opportunity can be had is on your own website. If you can build enough traffic, there are businesses that would love to work with you. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination. Hopefully you will find this sight a guide and an inspiration for what can be achieved.

If you need help setting up your first website or you want to improve what you already have, contact me today! I am here to help!

It has been a long time coming, but it is finally a reality – FryinginVein.com is now in business as Frying in Vein (FiV) Music Business Services – a SorSaw Enterprises, LLC company. Please excuse the dust. There will be active changes being made in the coming weeks as we get comfortable with the new setup.

Major thanks goes to Chris Genetti aka @draconum for the theme re-design. He is not just great with web design; he is also pretty handy with producing electronic music. Ask him about it.

If you enjoy the lovely background image, then you will be interested to know that it was designed by Andrea Williams of &rea Designs.

There is a lot more to come, so take a look around and make sure you stay tuned in however you like!

It has been a while since I did a serious artist feature. The main reason for that is I am really picky about which artists I choose to discuss, because I do not consider myself as just a music blogger. I do not want my reading audience to be confused with the content as I know we naturally want to categorize things in definite spaces. The thing is, this site gets okay traffic and if I want to do my part in helping an artist succeed, it makes sense to talk about them here. That said, I recently had my sensibilities piqued by a wonderful music upstart from NYC. Meet Hesta Prynn.

It's not often that someone says I'm a genius. 

Buy on Amazon

Miss Prynn first fell on my radar, thanks to Vince Speelman at Curve. By his recommendation, I explored her website and noticed that she had a very up-to-date focus on her work. Everything that I suggest to my artist friends, like having a prominent form to collect data from new fans and an easy-to-navigate user interface (UI), was on her site. Then I dug even further and found that her site at the time was powered by Topspin. If you don’t know, Topspin is the high-end software for artists that want to build their music empire with direct-to-fan (DtF) capability and the ability to track usable data. Eminem uses Topspin. Paul McCartney uses it too. Your friend’s garage band is not likely to be able to afford it, unless he knows someone. It was then I realized that Hesta was either really connected or she had quite a bit of funding behind her. Come to find out it was the former.

At a recent show headlined by the band Bear Hands at PJ’s Lager House in Detroit, I had the chance to not only see Hesta Prynn live, but I was able to meet her and talk shop with you in regards to her career.  First off, I really dug her stage show (although the sound was a bit of bunk), but my conversation with her was the game changer and sold me as a fan. I was impressed by her business savvy and her desire to succeed. It is not often that I get to witness the blend of talent and commercial knack in a music act. Usually, you find a band that is really talented, but to get the commercial success they have a separate non-band member that really handles all the business dealings. Said band never really seems to understand the 5Ws of their situation, as in they could not replicate if they were put to task. Miss Prynn has a manager, but I think if she wanted to manage another act, she would be quite good at it. Again, that does not make her a better musician, but it is an awesome skill to possess on top of great keyboard and production skills.

In my conversation with Hesta, I let her know that I would like to help artists become more business savvy and upon hearing that she put me to task to tackle an issue she had on her mind. While I will not explicitly state what her issue was, I can say that she was looking figure out how to create product for a demographic that was really new to her. After much prodding, she finally got a quality suggestion out of me, which led to the autographed poster that you see here.

Right now, I have realized I have typed quite a bit. I want to stop now. Do me a favor and check out hestaprynn.com. From my talks with her, she is getting ready to ramp up her engagement with her fans, much like her recent Black Friday Book Club promotion. Officially, she is one of my future “artists to watch.” You heard it here, but you can google her and find support of my statement.

This is one way on how you are to gain a fan.

The other day was just like any other day. I was on Twitter witnessing a lot of brain dumping and reckless statements. Per my usual, I would humor some of it with a response. On this particular day, I was having a discussion with Burn Rubber Sneaker Boutique and rapper Roland “Ro Spit” Coit about something he said, which led me to the following tweet.

No big deal, right? Of course not, I am just talking with my friend about music and the business of it. When out of the Twitter blue comes this:

Now you may look at this and say, “So?” My response to you would be, similar to what my Mother’s Mother would say in such an instance, “Child, bless your heart,” for you know not of a ground-breaking moment this is. If you remember me bitching about rappers, then you know I think they are the greatest spammers on the planet.

One of the biggest problems with spammers is that they don’t LISTEN. If you read this blog, then you know it’s a secret to success. That is why when an artist, who I do not have a personal relationship, actually responds to something I say in reference to them, a feeling of deep appreciation befalls me.

NOTE: I did not directly mention the artist Wes Fif. Honestly, I had no idea he was still working on music, let alone aware he had a Twitter account! Mind you, Wes was not following me originally, so he had to have used another application to alert him to my mention of him. And for that, I salute him!

Of course, I wanted to let him know that I appreciate what he did, but I wanted him to know I am not down with spam. That is when he replied accordingly.

Moments later, Wes Fif’s latest single featuring Verse Simmonds made it into my mailbox and guess what? I actually listened to it, unlike many unsolicited tracks that are sent me to daily. Now this song is not exactly my cup of tea. In fact, I find that it relies too much of the “ATL nuance” in the production of it, but I still support Wes for his ability to see an opportunity and make the best of it.

With that, I give you Wes Fif’s new single “U Do Me” featuring Wes Fif.

[audio:http://fryinginvein.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Wes-Fif-feat.-Verse-Simmonds-U-Do-Me-Dirty.mp3|titles=Wes Fif feat. Verse Simmonds – U Do Me (Dirty)]

Moral of the story – LISTEN. You might find a new opportunity.

This is late getting posted. In fact, hip hop artist Tasherre D’Enajetic beat me to the punch in a “student-schooling-teacher” instance. One of these days, I will share why “being first” is quite the asset. Key Takeaways Music is not unlike any other thing on this planet that people are trying to make money off of. Embrace the change that the Internet has brought forth. Ask your fans what they want and provide them value, instead of doing what you want. Make sure your product is good. Focus on what you do best. Whatever you don’t do well, look to get help.