Recording - October 2010 - 52

Continued from page 51 and purchase your own music on iTunes so you can understand the process by which your fans are going thorough. Now, when you go to purchase music on iTunes and you complete your process, a little list pops up that says, “If you like this, you might like this,” and they have sound-alikes and things that are getting compared. And then there’s also some little things called iTunes Playlist, and those little lists come up and it’s songs that are similar to the songs that you create. You can create those iTunes mixes within the walls of iTunes, and when you do that you are increasing your chances of getting sold. So my friend totally gave me the ins and outs of how to do that. It’s a bit arduous and it does take work, but it’s very, very effective. Dan: That reminds me of what we were talking about, Bob, a little bit before the panel, which is experiencing the mediums that you’re using before you start using them. Let’s talk about that a little bit. Bob: The way I phrase it is, become a consumer of the technology before you become a user, before you use it as a promotional tool. Because you wouldn’t go into a studio and say, “Hey, I’d like to record an album,” and they say, “What kind of music is it?” and you say, “Well, I’ve never really heard any music. I’ve never really listened to anything, but I want to be a songwriter.” Like, you wouldn’t want to direct a movie without ever having watched one. So it’s the same way when people come to me and say, “How can I use blogging to promote my music?” And I’ll say, “Well, what kind of blogs do you read now?” And they go, “I’ve never read one, but I understand I should be doing it, so I just want to know how.” You have to get comfortable with blogging, with podcasting. Learn what it’s like to subscribe to one, and listen to them so you get an idea. The same way you listen to songs and you’re influenced by certain artists more than other, once you start reading blogs or listening to podcasts—or whatever the tool or the medium is—you’ll start saying, “Oh, I like the way they do that,” or “That kind of sucks. I’m would never do that on my own.” You start developing your own personal taste, so that when you create your own blog or podcast or start Tweeting, then you’ll know how to do it better and be more effective at it. So become a consumer before you start going crazy using something as a promotional tool. Ariel: I want to add on to that whole blog thing. While you’re doing that research, com52

The Online Marketing panelists striking a group pose. (L to R) Dan Kimpel, Tony van Veen, Ariel Hyatt, Debra Russell, and Bob Baker.

ment. Do not read a blog without commenting on it. Every time you comment on a blog, put your website address on it, because that creates an external link to your website, which raises your website’s profile. When you comment, don’t just say, “Ooh, I liked that”— actually add to the conversation. Be polite, but even if you strongly disagree with the person— in fact, even better if you strongly disagree with

One other thing about that: If you want to see an artist on Twitter who I think is brilliant and amazing, and has the perfect balance between being funny, being a contribution, being awesome and selling stuff, follow John Mayer. It’s John C. Mayer—Twitter.com/John C. Mayer— and just read how John Mayer communicates with his fan base, because it’s astounding. Dan: For musicians that may not have the information or the ability to do it on their own, I know there are obviously services. And Debra, Bob, and Ariel, you all certainly provide services for people that require your services. It’s kind of a two-part thing. How do you qualify clients, and, more importantly, how should clients qualify you to chose to work with you? Can we start with you Debra? Debra: Absolutely. I mean, anyone can join my membership; anyone can download the free stuff—and I do have lots of free stuff on my website, as is recommended. When I work with someone privately, I actually do an hour session with you before you hire me or I chose to work with you, because working with a coach is an intimate relationship, and if the chemistry doesn’t work—as we know in intimate relationships—then the relationship doesn’t work. So I do an hour-long session with people to determine whether or not we’re a good match. What I’ve found is that when we’re not a good match, the client generally isn’t as satisfied and we don’t have nearly as much fun, and that’s really important to me. So that’s usually how I do it. Now, as far as working with a coach—and there are a lot of coaches out there—I recommend that you work with people who are certified, who have been trained as a coach, not someone who is really good in the music industry and then calls what they do coaching, because usually it’s not. Usually, it’s a consult, which is a completely different animal. So I recommend working with coaches who are really coached. And, again, interview them, talk to Continued on page 55

“If you give them a little something for free, it’s a great way to have a little perk, a little carrot for folks to give you their contact info.” –Tony van Veen
the person—say why, be of service, give a tip, make a suggestion and point them back to your website. It raises your profile, and you will also then know what your readers have to go through in order to comment on your blog. So all of that goes back to knowing how to work the process. As an aside, if you’re not comfortable with just diving in and commenting… And p.s., commenting is not, “Hey, check me out.” Get that? It’s commenting on the thing. But, if that doesn’t sit well with you and you just want to kind of read and lurk for a while, sign up to myblog.com and to googleblogreader.com. Any blog that has those applications inserted in their blogs, your photo will pop up and you’ll be leaving like a little bread-crumb trail of who you are. And I promise you, every single person who writes a blog is checking maniacally at how many people are checking their blogs, how many people are reading their blogs, how many people are commenting on their blogs. The biggest bloggers—and the smallest—are constantly measuring their effectiveness as bloggers. So by seeing your little face there, and by seeing your comments, they might not comment directly back to you, but you are deeply affecting your influence in their blogosphere.

http://www.myblog.com http://www.google.com/reader

Recording - October 2010

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