How To Gain Fans For Your Music Through The Internet Part 3
In my previous articles I spoke about the internet and the various platforms that are available. I gave you a short list of the social networks and their uses. In this article I will start by give you some ideas of ways in which you can combine these networks effectively.
Before I get into it I will address one thing I hear a lot from musicians, "I am not into all this internet and advertising. That is what the record company will do for me."
1. Record companies have a bad track record when it comes to using the developing media on the internet.
2. Yes many of the big stars do have P.R. companies doing their internet marketing. They cost money. If you have it that is great but you most certainly can not make it without having a good internet presence.
3. It is not as difficult as it sounds and once you have set it up it is not difficult to maintain.
4. Social networks are made so that everyone can use them without having internet expertise.
What I am saying is, just read these articles and perhaps other similar articles and guides and save your self money and mistakes. You will then be at least in a good position to utilise the internet. Plus I will not be telling you to spend any money. That can't be a bad thing can it?
The first and most important thing to know remember about social networks is that they are just like any social network real life or cyber. You are talking to people. So talk to them. If all you talk about is your self you will have the same reaction that you would have in any social setting. People will quickly stop listening. Be yourself and interesting, AND LISTEN (or in this case READ). Another thing to consider, if you talk to a group of gardeners about fishing they will also stop listening. The subjects you address should be to the right audiences. Talk to people you like, with whom you would talk in any social setting. Finally it is give and take. If you don't help others or give anything, then they are not likely to help or support you.
Twitter
Now back to the use of the individual social networks. At the moment I like to use twitter as an important central tool. Presently it is the one which seems to have no real competition and is accepted by all others. It can be easily combined with most other social networks and even your own website.
Twitter is often badly understood by many as it is so different to the others. The important thing to note is that you can write in twitter and it will update all your other accounts without you having to access them individually. It is the great Public Address system. It is sometimes called the micro blog. It keeps you to short messages direct. Remember to use the famous Google key words. Don't be afraid to be specific.
YouTube
This is another one to look at separately and it has the potential to take you a long way and save you time and space. Youtube likes you to use it as much as possible. It is effective to make your own channel and use the space there to upload your videos and music samples, It makes them quicker to find though Google, than adding them to your own website. It saves you using your own hosting space and bandwidth,. It can be a great beacon to your website. Just make sure that everything you put up does have your web address all over it.
Things you can do are
Make playlists of the music you like.
Make playlists of your music in the order that you want it to be heard.
Make play lists of other videos that you think your fans would like.
Make how to videos on playing your songs
Make video blogs
Make making of videos
Make karaoke versions of your best songs
Make videos of your concerts (only the full ones of course)
Use your imagination and again, don't be afraid to copy other people's good ideas.
In the next article I will be talking about the rest of the social networks and how to further integrate them into your plan to conquer the music world.