Band Promotion With a Blog – Promote Your Music Using a Blog

As you well know, blogs have been all the rage for the last few years and rightly so. Blogs provide the reader with current news and content rather than some of the out of date and stale content that may appear on a lot of websites. If you are a musician or have your own band then starting a blog could help promote your music. Band Promotion is difficult enough and this is just one way to help in promoting your band.

 

Blogs also rank highly in the search engines for a number of reasons, most notably for their current and relevant content. There are, however, several key elements to creating a successful blog about your band or music as outlined below. You are competing with thousands of other bloggers within your subject area of music so you need to be different and follow each of the key steps as outlined.

Do your research! You must know what is already out there in terms of competition. You can do this by typing in your blog subject matter into the search engines and seeing what appears in terms of blogs. Also, search the many blog directories to see who is already writing about your topic of interest. Use the Google keyword search tool to see what people are searching for each month in relation to your topic. For example, you would be best suited to focus on a topic that people are searching for and attracts more than 50,000 searches a month. When it comes to music, you could write about band promotion which has over 70,000 searches for these keywords each month. Or maybe write about how to sell your music online or a related topic that people want information about.

Find Your Niche! As already mentioned there are thousands of blogs out there on the internet about music, bands etc. They key is writing about a niche topic and then you will be more likely to attract a targeted audience. To try and compete with an already established blog that has high page rankings, a strong viewer base, and lots of existing content is going to just get you frustrated. Focus on one key area of music or playing in a band and you will create your own loyal fan base who will crave informative articles.

Think about your blog title, domain name, description and content. Take your time in thinking about a catchy but relative domain name. It is very difficult to find the domain name you want as most one, two and three word top level domain names have already been registered. You can buy one of these top level domain names from the owner but often the requested purchase price is unrealistic and just too costly. Also, try to get a .com domain name.  Try to get the keywords in your domain name and blog title. This will help in the search engine rankings.

If you already have your own website then create a blog using your own domain name. Why? If you create a blog from your own band or music website then you will provide readers with the opportunity to explore and navigate to other pages on your website. This will also help in branding, brand exposure and providing one link for fans to find you.

If you don’t your own website and are not keen to start your own blog then try starting a blog on one of the top music network sites such as MySpace or My Band Mate. Both provide tools for musicians to promote their music in many ways for free and one is in the form of a blog. This way you will already have an established audience to read your blog. I would recommend doing this even if you do go ahead with your own independent blog. The more exposure for your band then the more band promotion you will achieve.

With your own independent blog it is important to develop keyword rich content with the keywords appearing in the title, description, first paragraph without going overboard. You will be penalised if you just “overload” your pages and articles with too many of the targeted keywords. You just don’t need to do it and Google is aware of all the tricks webmasters try to use when it comes to achieving high page rankings.

It’s all about the content! Readers will return to your blog if you provide them with informative and valuable content about the subject you are promoting. You are reading this article most likely because you want to start your own blog or are looking for ways to promote your music. As a result, if you gain some valuable information from this article then there is a good chance that you would return again to my blog to read other articles.

The content needs to be informative and relative. You will lose your reader just as quickly as you got them if you have nothing to offer. There is just too much competition out there so you must add top quality content. If you are not sure what to write about then read other blogs, not to copy their articles but to get ideas. There is nothing wrong with seeking out ideas and then writing your own article with a different twist or adding new material. If your readers like your blog they are likely to refer it to their friends which will increase your subscriber base.

Provide some incentive to get your reader to join your blog newsletter or RSS feed. One of the trends in recent times is to give away eBooks when someone signs up. You can create a 5 or 10 page eBook about your niche topic. It has to be catchy enough to get the reader to give up their name and email for it.

Promote your site via bookmarking. Some of the most popular sites include Digg, Technorati, Reddit, Jumptags, stumbleupon and many more but these are the top ones. You will be accused of spamming if you constantly promote and add your own content or site so get some of your friends to help you out with this. These sites will track your IP address and can permanently shut down your account so you will need to respect their terms of use. You can find that these “bookmarks” will give you some promotion on the first few pages of the search engines for your keywords.

Use RSS feeds. RSS feeds provide the reader with an option to receive updates when you add new content to your blog. Once again you will need to submit regular articles or news to your site and it needs to be worth reading to keep the reader subscribing to your blog.  I have subscribed to blogs, newsletters and sites before only to be bombarded with emails selling products. I quickly went to the “Unsubscribe” button at the bottom of the email.

Encourage readers to submit comments about the various blog entries to submit. Your readers are there because they have an interest in your topic so try to create a bond with them in making them feel a part of your blog. If they leave a comment be sure to respond otherwise you will find that they are less likely to write a comment again.

You will need to market your blog. This can be done by submitting your blog to the various blog directories or by writing articles and submitting them  to article directories with an active link back to your blog. Submit a free press release about your blog, get into related forums and include an active link. Be sure not to spam or just sell your blog as you will be expelled from the forum, be discrete in promoting your blog in these forums.

Form joint ventures with fellow bloggers or websites. Invite other bloggers to submit content to your site and in return you can submit content to their blogs and therefore cross promote. Most bloggers will follow up on a lead that will increase their exposure. As long as you are not in direct competition and only complement another blog then this can be a valuable option. You will also gain more content for your blog.

Make your blog stand out! Add other forms of media to the site. Add MP3s, videos, photos or even an audio interview. There are plenty of cheap ways to add this rich media content to your site. Make sure that they provide relative content that your readers are craving.

Fresh Content! I can’t state enough how much your blog needs to contain fresh, informative and related content. It will take some work to maintain a dynamic and successful blog so devote at least an hour a week to working on your blog. Improve the appearance, promote it, add new content or pursue partnerships.

You can make money from your blog by adding Google Adsense, affiliate links or generating income from advertising on your blog. You will only gain interest from advertisers if you generate a significant number of hits each day. If your goal is to promote your music or blog then don’t lose focus of this by distracting your readers. Good luck in promoting your music or band. 

 

 

Sell Music Online – Tips to Sell Your Music Online

Sell Music Online

 

The internet has revolutionised the music industry and how music is sold and distributed online. We are all aware of the issues facing illegal music downloads and the heavy impact it has on bands to generate payment for their music. But we are talking about the best ways for you to sell your music and generate publicity for your band.

 

With the increase in internet usage throughout the world and the easy availability of internet based tools and software, you can now record a professional sounding record in a home based studio or promote yourself through Sites such as MySpace, MyBandMate.com, YouTube and similar sites. There are a number of key avenues to pursue for bands and musicians when it comes to selling music online and these sites are providing free resources and tools to showcase your music.

 

If you are a budding musician or band and are looking for ways to sell your music online then below are some proven tips to get you started. They are free and will generate a lot of exposure in promoting your music.

 

Forums are a great way to promote your music and ultimately drive potential fans to your site and music. You need to find forums that are not only specific to music but also to your genre of music. For example, if you are a Christian rock band, there is no use trying to promote your music in a reggae forum. Promote your music to your target audience. You never know who is reading your forum posts and the whole game is about getting your name and music out there in a number of forums.

 

Free music networks such as MySpace and YouTube allow you to upload and share your music. My Band Mate is an example of a site that allows you to target your specific audience by promoting your music in various ways via online forums, chat, article postings, music and video uploads, classifieds and much more. Remember, it is a numbers game so the more sites you get onto the more exposure your music will get. Take advantage of these free music networks and you may just get discovered in a big way!

 

Chat rooms can be useful in spreading the word around about your music. Once again you need to choose the right chat rooms otherwise you will just be wasting your time. These chat forums can be a great way to network.

 

Blogs have been all the rage of the last few years and they have a powerful presence in ranking highly in the search engines. A well written blog that provides the reader with valuable and informative content can keep that reader returning on a regular basis. In your blog you can have links for fans to buy your music or CDs online.

 

Classifieds are often under utilised by musicians. Most people think that classifieds are only there to post jobs, sell instruments or look for new band members. However, you can generate a lot of traffic and eventually sales by posting your music for sale in the appropriate category.

 

Having your own website is not essential but it’s definitely worthwhile. A simple one or two page site can cost you less than $100 a year so the cost is not too high. Many webhosts such as GoDaddy allow you to register a domain name, sign up for a years hosting and use their easy to use software to create your own website without any technical or previous website knowledge. If you don’t have your own site then MySpace and MybandMate.com are definitely two free music networks that allow you to create your own profiles and mini sites with all the required features to promote your music. If you are a musician and are not using these free music networks then you better ask yourself why not! You can’t sell your music if you aren’t willing to put in some time promoting your music.

 

Many bands are using Google Adwords to promote their music. This has proven to be successful for many bands but it can also be quite costly. These small ads are not only displayed in the Google search results but also on sites with related content for your topic. Remember to carefully select your keywords to bid on and learn more about how much you should be paying per click.

 

Another great way to generate free publicity is to type up a brief news release and submit it to be launched all across the internet for free. Often these news releases will achieve high rankings on the search pages. Be sure to use the keywords in your title, summary and content.

 

Other key points to note are that you need to build a relationship with your fans. This can be done via these music networks or your own newsletter. By building your list you can promote and sell your music to people who you know are interested in your style of music. You can also send out samples of new songs.

 

Musicians need to be aware that the majority of their income will come from the money they make from their gigs and selling merchandise at these gigs. This is why you will want to have a box of CDs with you to sell at the end of your gig. You need to target potential customers while they are pumped about your music. This is when you want to sell.

 

Ultimately, to sell your music you need to firstly promote your music via the various avenues as outlined above. You could have the next best hit single or a top selling CD but if no one knows about you or your band then you will never sell your music. It is such a competitive market and you should use all of the free tools out t here on the internet to showcase your music to the world. Everyone who has a computer is a potential customer and therefore you have a global market!

 

Music Promotion – Expert Music Promotion Tips

Music Promotion Tips - Promote Your Music – Promote Your Band

 

Music Promotion in Forums

There are many music forums on the internet that attract a big following. Most forums don’t like spam so don’t try and go in and just submit a message of no benefit. Instead, use the author bio to add a link to your band’s website or even list your band under the “introduce your band” forum. Forums are a great way to network and you never know who is reading your posts!

 

Free Music Networks

Two of the best are Free Music Networks are MySpace and MyBandMate.com. Both have built sites that are specifically catered towards the music industry. Each site has the key features such as video, music samples, photos, post event or gig dates, internal mail system, forums, chat and more. Be sure to create a professional profile that showacases your best songs, photos and videos. These sites are a great way to connect with your fans and generate more interest.

 

Advertise

Advertise via Google Adwords. This option does cost money, however, if you set yourself a budget you can promote your band to a specific region of the world or to all countries. Simply set your daily budget, your cost per click that you are willing to pay, create your adwords with title and catchy text and then activate it to go live.

 

Music Promotion via Press Releases

There are a number of free press release services on the internet where you can write and distribute a press release for free. Many of these services also offer more features and exposure for a fee.

 

Social Bookmarking

Be sure to bookmark your website pages, articles or press releases to the popular sites such as Digg, Reddit, Technorati, Jumptags and Stumbleupon. This will not only provide an avenue for more people interested in your genre of music to sample your music but it will also spread news about you across the internet.

 

Go to Music Festivals to Promote Music

In order to promote yourself you will need to play for free or for a small amount of money. Find out what music festivals are on in your region or country and when. Then request an opportunity to play. Many festivals will have bands and musicians playing throughout the streets at the same time.

 

Play at Top Music Venues on Free Nights

Many of the most well known music venues will have a night where bands can play for free. Often you will be allocated a short amount of time on the stage so you will need to get your audiences attention right from the start. No warm-up songs, just hit them right from the start with one of your best songs. An example of a famous music venue is the ESPY in Australia which allows for unsigned artists to play on a Tuesday night for free. Music Agents and Band Promoters from My Band Mate have stated that they will regularly attend these nights to see if they can find any up and coming bands or potential musicians for future promotion.

 

Hand out free CD’s outside big concerts of similar music

Target a concert where the bands playing are in the same genre of music as you. For example it is a waste of time if you are in a rock band and handed out free CD’s outside of a Reggae concert. Reach your target audience! I recently attended a Powderfinger concert in Melbourne and as soon as I walked out the door I was greeted by a young guy who was handing out home made CD’s of his band. The next day I decided to play the CD and see what he was like. As a result in liking his music I contacted him regarding future promotion. You just never know what leads may arise from just one effort to promote your music.

 

Send demos to radio stations and agents

It is quite easy and cheap to make your own CD’s so it will require small outlay of money to send off twenty CD’s. The key point is to stand out from the rest of the demos these agents get every day. Have a funky CD design, personally deliver the CD, have someone represent you or better yet get someone on the inside to help you out. 30 seconds is about what you have to win over the person listening to your music. Once again hit them with your best song right from the start. No need to add all your songs as they don’t have the time to listen to much more. If they like what they hear they may sample a few other songs. Some agents and radio stations have days where artists like you can go in and audition. Basically, they are looking for the next big thing.

 

Create your own website

All bands should have a website. If not then you better have a profile on MySpace or My Band Mate where you can utilize all of their key features to promote your band. You should also use these sites even if you have your own site. Use them to link to your home website. What you do with your website will depend on your budget. You can easily get a website for only a few hundred dollars. In fact, GoDaddy will allow you to build a site using their templates and also gain a year of hosting for less than a hundred dollars. Definitely a start for someone on a small budget.

 

Squidoo page

I know, you may not have heard of Squidoo before. However, Squidoo allows you to build your own web page with all of their great and easy to use features to promote your band or music. Pages on Squidoo tend to receive high page rankings in the search engines.

 

A couple more great ways to promote your music include having your own newsletter which allows for your fans to stay up to date with new songs, CDs, gigs, band member changes and more. You can also start your own blog; try creating one for free at www.wordpress.com. One great marketing tool is to submit related music articles to “Article Directories” and have a bio and active link to your website at the bottom of the article. You can also take on gigs at various events outside of music clubs such as weddings, festivals, parties to give you more exposure to a wider audience.

 

These are some of the most successful ways that professional band promoters and internet marketers use to promote their music or the music of one of their clients. Good luck in Promoting Your Music!