Saturday, February 6, 2010

Looking for More Fans?

~ I found this article from the LA Times. You can check out the full read here: http://tinyurl.com/yfeonaz

1) Play nice with search engines. So the obvious thing is to get people’s email address. One of the less obvious ways to get new fans is to have good [search engine optimization]. Thirty percent of new fans come from emails. But 30% come from Google or Yahoo. It’s people who are using search engines to find you. You need to make sure that if people look for you, they will find you. – Ian Rogers, Topspin

2) Use SMS texting. You can give away a song download or wallpaper or ringtone to people who text you their email address. Next time you’re playing in town, you can tell them and let them in free if they bring three friends. So your 100 fans suddenly become 300 paying fans. With live concerts, the goal is to sell 300 tickets. That’s incredibly hard to do. – Tom Silverman, co-founder, New Music Seminar

3) Buy a Facebook ad. "I spent $10 on a targeted Facebook ad and got 50,000 impressions and a good click-through rate. You can target only people who work at certain companies, like Google. You can target fans of other bands like yours. You can target only people in L.A. or San Francisco. So go to your band page on Facebook. There's a link that says, 'Get more fans. Promote your page.' Just click it." – Corey Denis, music marketing consultant, Not Shocking

4) Speak to the fringe. "We had a client who spent 11 months out of the year sailing and one month recording an album. Her songs were all about sailing. And she pitched her story to these boating and yachting magazines, and they all did these stories on her. She sold 10,000 albums a year, and most of them were to other sailors." – Derek Sivers, founder, CD Baby

5) Talk to your fans. A lot of bands disappear when their show is over when what they really need to do is come out and talk to them. Have them engage in your show. Give them a video camera during the show and have them pass it around. Get their email addresses and then send them a notice when you post it so they can embed the video on their own sites. – Mike Doernberg, founder,ReverbNation

2 comments:

  1. Great Advice and Blog Post as Always Blasko! Thanks!

    Cheers!
    Jeff Cerzosie
    The Infinite Staircase

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  2. Tip number one about saving email addresses is pure gold. Over the years, I've saved every email address of every sale I've ever had and I'm now into the thousands and thousands...of possible sales.
    I don't abuse this trust. I send only one email per month in my monthly email sale flyer. And, trust me, it works. People appreciate the one on one contact and feel valued. I have a very high ratio of repeat buyers. :)
    If you do start sending out a monthly email, don't forget to put the obligatory phrase at the bottom of your email, "If you would prefer not to receive this monthly sales flyer, simply hit reply and put 'remove' in the subject field'. This then covers you for possible legal 'spam mail' problems later.
    Great post as always, Blasko...

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