As I expected, my life has been a bit crazy for the last few weeks. My work is fast-paced, and I work with many different groups, so there’s always a new challenge to wrap my brain around, or a new problem to help solve. I’m enjoying being back in the thick of things, social media-wise, and that includes the sometimes odd hours and late nights.

This weekend, of course, was an example of that, as news of singer Amy Winehouse’s passing started hitting the Twitterverse shortly after 1pm, and the major news outlets about 20-30 minutes after that.

I’ve seen quite a few different flavors of a community since starting at Billboard. For example, I never knew that Lil Kim fans and Nicki Minaj fans were so fanatically passionate about those artists, nor did I know that there’s a bit of a rivalry between the two fan camps. Bruno Mars fans digitally came out en masse to support him when he appeared on our cover just over a week ago, selling out the issue online within 48 hours.

I’m knee-deep in Billboard’s communities every day. Like most companies, we have slightly different audiences on each of our social outposts (Facebook and Twitter are the ones I’m involved with the most), and different stories see different reactions and different attentions paid to them depending on where they’re posted.

The news about Amy’s passing is tragic, though, as many have noted, not wholly unexpected. Within minutes of the story breaking, our Charted Artists Twitter list was full of tweets reflecting on her life, mourning her passing, and declaring that they were “hoping for a comeback”. Flipping over to my own Twitter feed, I saw much of the same thing from people I know and follow. Facebook was the same for me – people were posting videos of her songs and noting that they were really hoping she’d get better and have an amazing comeback album. Hopping over to the Billboard Facebook page, we saw comments coming in about her death (no doubt they heard about it on Twitter) and asking us for verification within minutes of the story appearing on Twitter.

We ended up posting 4 articles about her death, and the comments and reactions on both Facebook and Twitter were much the same for all of them. Many people shared their condolences for her loved ones, many expressed their sadness that there would be no comeback album, many said that her death was tragic and is an example of what drug addiction can do to a person (note: the cause of death hasn’t been determined, but many people are assuming it’s due to drugs), and some people even went as far to say that she “deserved to die” because she had problems with drugs and alcohol. We also had a few people question why we weren’t covering the news in Oslo, and sharing that they felt saddened that the singer’s death was more popular online than the news about that tragedy.

What did I learn from all of this?

• Every community member has a voice, and it’s usually a smart idea to let them use it
• Communities are very willing to self-moderate if you give them the chance
• Letting conversations develop, but also letting people know that they aren’t alone, is a hard (but necessary) balance to strike
• Most people were genuinely hoping for Amy to overcome her personal demons and let her talents shine
• Music is emotional. Death is emotional. We’re talking about a celebrity death, yes, but one who, like most musicians, genuinely touched people’s lives.

So for you musicians out there who have growing fan bases, for those who are active on Twitter and Facebook, and for those who you talk to people about your music on a regular basis… don’t forget that the people in your community are actual people. I have a post coming up about how to balance “you” v. “your brand”, but I’ll say this to start – don’t be afraid to let your personality and your life shine through. I think that communities have a way of surprising the people that are in charge of guiding/moderating/managing/shepherding them – they surprise you in the very best of ways sometimes. I’ve seen it more times than I can count in my 10 years of being involved with online communities, and this weekend was no different.

Speaking personally, I do think that Amy’s life was ended too soon. I won’t remark on the cause of death since it hasn’t been verified, but I stand with the many who were hoping for a comeback album, and the many that were touched by her music. I truly believe that her raw power and talent laid the way for many stars today – she reminded the public that music could be amazing without being over-produced, and she reminded many of stars in the days gone by. She will certainly be missed, and I hope that society starts to think of addictions (of all kinds) as something other than a personal weakness.

It’s funny.  In certain circles, weird looks cross faces when I mention speaking to people for years without ever meeting them.  In other circles, it’s completely normal. It’s been this way for about 10 years now, at least as I remember it.

Ever since my teenage years, I’ve seen the Internet as a tool to connect with people.  At first it was old friends – people that had moved or that I’d lost contact with for one way other other.  Later, I got into WGI (the link is an MP3 to the last show I played, the Overture to Candide played from finish to start, then from start to finish – in case you’re wondering).  I also joined LiveJournal around the same time and started to see things changing.  All of a sudden, the Internet became a place for me to chat with people about upcoming shows, connect with members of other drumlines before we ran into them at a competition, capture my thoughts and feelings as I had them, and ultimately meet new people.

All in all, this seemed pretty natural.  I’d be meeting these people in person a short time later – and many of them I’d already met in passing – we just didn’t have the luxury of time to talk.  In that social circle, connecting online was normal.  Mention this to people I went to school with though and I got a completely different reaction – it clearly wasn’t normal to them and in fact, was really, really strange.

Jump forward a decade and these days, I’m hard-pressed to count friends and acquaintances that I haven’t met online on two hands – part of this is work-related (I work in marketing/social media as a job), and part of this is lifestyle related, seeing as I’m into music with a really strong online presence and community (drum and bass, dubstep, WGI/DCI, etc).

I spent Thanksgiving in the UK and got to thinking about it on the plane ride back.

The friend who let me crash at their place? I met them in person, but through someone I met online.  We’ve kept in contact for 5ish years exclusively online, and kept up online by and large even when I lived in the UK.

The offices I visited when I arrived, to catch up with people I’ve previously worked with? I met them at an event in NYC, but only because I saw a Tweet that they’d be in town and arranged to meet up.  I knew them online first and have kept in contact online ever since (over a year and a half now).

The old friend I caught drinks/dinner with and my old flatmate who came into town to see me? I met one online and one through well, living together, but we’ve all kept in contact online for the past year and a half and 5+ (respectively).

These are just a few examples, but in each one, the relationship wouldn’t have happened or be maintained without the use of the Internet.  Nowadays I find it normal to keep in contact with people all over the world and feel like I actually know what’s going on in their lives – even if we haven’t seen each other in person for years.

What’s this mean for you? It means that you shouldn’t overlook the power of the Internet as a medium – not only to promote your own stuff, but to discover new people and new opportunities, as well as maintain the ones you have.

Pretty simple. huh?

I’m curious about why people use Facebook.

More specifically, I’m curious about how people use Facebook.  The network itself has an interesting past – from starting out as a purely social networking site limited to certain universities (which is when I joined), to becoming a behemoth marketing tool complete with targeted ads, Fan Pages and Groups (so, ads, small versions of microsites and something akin to a listserv, but on steroids).

I ran across this article today which caused a pretty instant “WTF ARE THEY SMOKING?!” reaction upon reading this line (emphasis mine):

It takes an incredible commitment to cultivate a personal brand.  To go from three Facebook friends to 3,000 is no small feat; same goes for Twitter — to grow a personal fan base requires a savvy combination of content creation, curation, promotion and cool.

For me, going from “three Facebook friends to 3,000″ would literally mean that I met 2,997 new people.  I use Facebook much the same as I have for the past 6ish years – as a way to aggregate everyone I’ve ever met in my life.  I don’t add people who just happen to know my friends, and only rarely add people that I haven’t met in real life (though, due to my Internet-heavy life, there are a few exceptions).

The rest of the article is remarkably on point though – if you’re interested in the corporate brand/personal brand discussion at all then I’d suggest that you go here and read it.

But, getting back to my original question… how do you use Facebook?

I’ve been doing some thinking and see a pretty clear breakout for artists/musicians/people that care to have a visible brand of any sort:

• Personal Page For friends, family, acquaintances, people they know. It contains details about who they are, not just the brand they present to the world. There are probably varying levels of access (via friends list/privacy settings)
• Fan Page For fans and friends/family/acquaintances that want to keep in touch with what you’re doing professionally. There aren’t varying levels of access, but the content is designed to be used as a marketing tool.
• Group I don’t think that many musicians have jumped on Groups yet, but I see a lot of useful applications of them.  This is more of an unstructured conversation than your Fan Page, but may have a lot of the same people involved.  This is also used as a marketing tool, but it may be a value-added one, as you can make groups private.

So – how do you use Facebook? Do you have a personal page and a Fan Page? Do you market yourself through your personal page (and things like event invites, etc)?

Oh, and speaking of event invites – here’s how to block the people that keep spamming you with them.

Tell me in the comments, please! I halfway think that I’m missing the boat with Facebook and if so, I’d love to know why/how.

I’ve been a big fan of Behringer products for years.  They produce quite the extensive line of DJ, sound and other music-related products, and I’ve always had great experiences.  That being said, they were pretty much out of sight, out of mind for years. I stopped DJin’g and just didn’t have a need to keep up with what they were doing.  I’ve been paying attention to them again lately though, mainly due to their Twitter stream.

I took a look around their social presence and really like what I saw.  So much so that I decided to write an entire blog post about it – not bad, eh?

I’ll start with the website:

The clean style really showcases both the products they want to feature (rotating in the center), as well as a larger portion of their product line and their social outposts, all without being crowded or poorly-designed.

Great, but their Twitter stream is really what caught my eye.  Let’s take a look!

I LOVE the fact that they’re on top of responses.  A lot of people/companies who are just jumping into social media seem to forget the “social” aspect and just use their accounts to push our news about their company.  Behringer does post updates about their products, but they also feature weird musical instruments, ask questions and have conversations with people that respond to them. It’s a really great combination of interesting information and interaction, and I regularly go check the account just to see what I’ve missed from them. Really.

I hopped over to Facebook next and really, the only negative thing I have to say here is that I wish they had a better avatar. It is consistent with their other profiles (like Twitter above), but just a bit too long for the space.  Still – if I’m just pointing out the avatar and not the actual content, I consider that a huge win.  Make no mistake, the content is really good! Take a look for yourself.

Behringer does cross-post content from Twitter to Facebook (or vice versa, more likely), and I like that they do this.  They don’t try and shove people back and forth between the platforms, yet they make sure that if you’re on Twitter, you’ll see the much the same information as you’d see on Facebook.  They also reply to comments on Facebook which is unique! You’d be surprised how many companies post something then just leave it.  Questions go unanswered, kudos go unthanked and opportunities to, you know, be social, go unrecognized.

As if that wasn’t enough, they’re also on YouTube and Flickr – both give you a good “behind the scenes” view of what’s up at Behringer, including shows they’re at and videos they’re making (even just for fun).  The videos are fun to watch and the photos are a combination of company photos and fan submissions – I really enjoyed looking through both sites and seeing some of the faces and personalities.

So – some takeaways:

• Interaction is good. Don’t be afraid to use @ replies, DM’s or comments to respond to questions, thank people for their support or offer help.  Sometimes all people want is to be heard.
• Consistency is good. Use the tools you’ve selected to their full potential! Cross-post content and encourage people to connect with you where they feel most comfortable doing so – not where you want them to do so.  You don’t have to copy everything (and in fact, you probably shouldn’t), but posting key pieces of content on multiple sites isn’t always a bad thing!
• Design matters. It may seem completely obvious, but web design matters! I was encouraged to poke around Behringer’s site simply because it was easy to use.  Don’t be afraid to change things up or invest some serious time and resources to make your website more effective.  Websites are still important!

What other companies do you like in the social space? Share your favorites in the comments!

Photo credit: Bob Fornal

I love Twitter. But I didn’t always love it. In fact, for the first few months I was on, I actually thought it was completely pointless.

Story time, kiddos…

I got on Twitter in September of 2008 (late, according to most of my counterparts working in social media). I actually jumped on before a trip to NYC, and my first tweets were full of “I’m at the Guggenheim!” and other such nonsense. I didn’t really “get” it, but I figured that I should at least give it a try. To me, it was a way to shout out to the Internet at large about what I was doing… but that felt kind of pointless – I mean, who really cared??

I was shortly followed by a bunch of people in Charlotte, NC. I didn’t know any of them, but quickly found out that, in addition to being full of snark and sass, they were a really cool bunch of smart people. I happen to like smarts, sass and snark, so I started posting a bit more and responding to their posts.

Truth be told, I still didn’t “get” Twitter. It was all like a big disjointed IM conversation to me, and all of it was pointless.

So I went out to a meetup (tweetup), and actually met these people.  My impressions were correct! The local people were just as cool offline as they were online (if not more so). Now I had faces and personalities to go with internet personas and avatars. Progress!

Then I got laid off.

After calling a co-worker (to declare that we were going for margaritas) and my Mom (to tell her I was laid off), I tweeted about being laid off. I wasn’t home yet, but when I got home to change before heading out for said margaritas, guess what happened? I GOT Twitter. I understood.

In the 10 minutes between Tweeting out that I was laid off and arriving at home I had about 30 replies from people I didn’t know sending their condolences, asking for my resume, or telling me to keep my chin up. A lot of these people I didn’t even follow, but they saw my note because someone I did ReTweeted it, and they offered their help.  Seriously, COMPLETE STRANGERS.

From there, it was a bit of a snowball effect. I kept connecting with more people, shortly moved to NYC, and continued to use Twitter. I started giving back. ReTweeting things that I thought others would find valuable, sharing their stories if they needed help, and connecting with people. Not because it was benefiting me, but because I cared and I wanted to provide the help and support that had once been provided to me.

What’s important here isn’t the fact that I was laid off. The important fact is that I had the opportunity to see first hand what a community, even a loosely-knit one, can do. What sort of personal impact it can have, even for a complete stranger and someone new to the scene.

It’s not about my story. Its about viewing things in a new light, about turning something around and seeing it from all angles, and about having patience. I tweeted for a few months without really “getting it”, and then one day, I did.

You never know what sort of opportunities can lead to learning, and all too often we give up before we really “get it”.

So. What about you? When did you see something in a different light? When did things “click” for you?

Otherwise known as HOLY STATISTICS!

These summary stats were pulled from the Socialnomics site, so go there for the full statistical breakdown in written form. These are just the highlights!

1. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
2. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
3. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
4. Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
5. 80% of Twitter usage is outside of Twitter…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
6. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
7. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
8. 54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
9. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
10. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
11. Only 14% trust advertisements
12. 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
13. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
14. More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

I know, the life of a hustler is hard.

Let me help. Here are 6 great social tools to help your hustle along and create some buzz about your music.

Note: if your noise doesn’t qualify as wonderfully crafted, start here.

1. Twitter – No, it’s not just about what you had for lunch.  The pros? Setup costs are low (it’s free) and setup time is minimal (5 minutes, tops).  The cons? A bit of reading before you jump on would probably be a good thing, and tweeting takes time. Getting in the habit of sharing little details here and there also takes a bit to get used to. Just be sure not to be “that guy” on there, please.
2. Facebook – Yes, really! You can set up a page with pretty minimal time and effort and it’s completely OK to fill your Wall with your stuff, even multiple times per week! Go look at Alicia Keys’ page if you want an example of a successful Fan Page. Warning: Facebook likes to change things and delete things without warning, so don’t depend on this tool alone to get the word out.
3. Contxts – It’s a pretty simple concept. You meet someone, you tell them to text a number with a certain message, and in response they get a text back with your contact details. It’s free for everyone involved and pretty easy to configure to your liking.  Twentysomething in the Music Biz covers a few promotional ideas here (it’s well worth the short read). I use it as my “Oops, I ran out of business cards!” backup.
4. SoundCloud – Again with the free. Setup takes about 5 minutes and you can upload all sorts of things to the system. Start with a track or two, perhaps end up with an album or a mix. It’s up to you but it’s a great (and social) way for people to wander by and discover your music.  It’s also easy to embed into places like blogs (see my post here if you want an example) and profiles.
5. Blogger – For those lacking the funds to start a self-hosted website, Blogger provides a nice alternative.  You can write about what you’re up to, put a bit up about yourself, and link to your music all from one central area.  Bonus? You can set up your other sites to direct back to your blogger.com blog, providing a central “hub” for your efforts and a flexible place where you can update your fans and foes alike about what’s going on in the world of your musical creations.
6. YouTube – Set up a channel, record yourself practicing or performing, and share.  I have my own channel to share things like trips I take or concerts I go to, and I’m always surprised to see how many people view my videos.  You can link to your YouTube videos from any number of your social sites, and it’s a great place to share your music as a lot of people use YouTube as a discovery engine, a la “plug in a random search term and see what comes up”. You can also embed your videos in your blogger.com site, share them on Facebook or Tweet about them.

What tools did I miss? The comments are yours for the sharing!

Picture this…

A guy takes a girl out on a first date.  She’s dressed up, and he’s aiming to impress. They make polite conversation over a glass of wine while waiting for their food to arrive, and each feels a spark of hope for what may come. He gets up, as if to go to the bathroom, but instead bends down on one knee, revealing a ring inside a box and asking her to marry him.

Romantic, right?

She says no. She says it’s too soon, that she barely knows him, and she runs off – scared at how quickly he moved from an innocent conversation about where he was from, to asking her to spend the rest of her days by his side.

What Happened?

He moved too fast.  Yes, it’s romantic, and yes, the thought of skipping the arduous dating process and getting straight to “the point” is tempting, but she wasn’t ready.  She wanted to discover his quirks, she wanted to discover the dynamics of their relationship without the pressure of a looming wedding, and she wanted to savor the moments they had to come.  She wanted to take her time to decide, and he rushed her.

Um, So, Music, Hello?

How does this relate to music marketing, you ask? Simple.

Musicians ask for the sale before their fans have a chance to make up their mind.

Musicians rush the relationship, doing the music marketing equivalent of proposing on the first date.

So someone follows you on Twitter, great. Reach out and say “hello” or ask them how they found out about you. Start developing your relationship with them from there. Get to know them a bit, and let them get to know you. Jumping in to ask them to buy your latest single/t-shirt/concert ticket before you’ve ever shown that you care about them just defeats the purpose. They end up feeling like just another wallet and you end up seeming like just another self-centered, out to make a quick buck, musician.

So you have a Fan Page on Facebook. Great. Use it to show your fans what you’ve been up to. Don’t just post things and walk away – participate in the conversations taking place on a regular basis.

There’s a time and a place to ask for the sale. That time and place is not every day, nor is it during your first conversation with someone who has been kind enough to show interest in your work.

Give your fans and followers time. Respect the fact that building a relationships with a fan is the same in many ways as starting to date someone new.  There are surprises, there are common interests, there are laughs, and there is a bond that grows over time.

Making money from music isn’t about getting a bunch of people to buy your first album, then finding an entirely different group of people to attend your shows, then seeking an entirely new audience to buy your swag. Relationships aren’t about a bunch of first dates!

So, musicians. Don’t treat your fans like wallets with mouths and faces. Don’t propose to them on the first date.

I’ve been a fan of Alicia Keys since “Songs in A Minor” was released in 2001, and have continued to follow her career as my life, and the world, has evolved.

9 years later a hit new song with Jay-Z playing on radio stations and iPod’s everywhere, I’m now even more in love with her music.

Personal tastes aside, I have a lot of respect for the marketing going on around Alicia Key’s new album – “The Element of Freedom”.

She first debuted the album on Facebook, that’s right – Facebook.  To my knowledge – she’s the first major artist to do so (smart move!).

To do so, her marketing team got a company called Involver on board, which I admit is new to me (hey Involver, if you’re listening I’d love to pick your brain for a future post!).

You can check out her fan page here.

In addition to the Facebook album debut, Alicia and her team have also put together a “I think it’s going to be slightly insane in a great way” event happening tonight at the legendary Apollo Theatre. Actually, it’s happening now, and I’m there, and you can watch here. Full review coming tomorrow, of course!

Back on track…

That’s right – the entire concert is being livestreamed (thanks Billboard!), and straight from their article on the event, here are some juicy details:

The chart-topping singer/songwriter’s new album, “The Element of Freedom,” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in December, but Keys has enjoyed a pair of long-running No. 1′s on the singles charts. Her New York centric duet with Jay-Z, “Empire State of Mind,” — which the duo performed to much acclaim at Yankee Stadium during the World Series in October — rode the top of the Hot 100 for five weeks in November and December. Meanwhile over on the Latin Pop Songs chart, Alejandro Sanz’s track featuring Keys, “Looking For Paradise,” has been No. 1 for the last nine consecutive weeks.

Click to watch the concert here.

If you’re more of the “I like to watch the interviews” type, I included Billboard’s interview below. It’s a good watch!

I’m looking forward to seeing more major labels jump on the “let’s innovate!” train.  If you’ve seen any examples then by all means, please share them in the comments!

Memories are powerful. Some songs play a leading role in certain memories, while others appear as a backup role.

I recently posted a question on my Twitter account (@misskatiemo) asking people what songs they associated with certain memories.  Their answers are below.

Carla Lynne Hall: “Crystal Blue Persuasion” by Tommy James and The Shondells because it reminds me of growing up in Miami, with its blue skies and sunny days. Whenever I hear it, I think of carefree days of being a kid, with all of the time in the world to just dream and play. Ahhh….

Prescott Perez-Fox:  When I hear “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles, I am wandering through a church yard in North London on my way to work.

Amy Garland:  Footloose – This was my favorite movie growing up (still is), and I always loved dancing to the end (prom scene). Whenever the song plays at a wedding, my sister and/or I try to get everyone to form two lines and take turns dancing down the middle (like the movie). This song always brings great memories from weddings, etc to mind!

Andrew Stugots:  New Years day 1999 my cousin and best friend in the world passed away after a life long battle with brain cancer. He was found laying in the parking lot of his job.  Phillip lived life as if it was his last day on earth and pushed others to do the same. A year later I met a seer, Jennifer. I never believed in this type of stuff but take it for what you will. Over dinner with others she leaned over to me and said “Phillip said to tell you “Don’t Dream It’s Over“. I sat there with my mouth agape, she continued “Yeah, he is just singing that song over and over again ‘Hey now, hey now, dont dream its over. There is freedom within, there is freedom without….” and then she said, he waved and walked away. The song still gives me goosebumps and will make me get teary eyed.

My own memory is along the line of Andrew’s.  Whenever I hear “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” or “Amazing Grace” I think of my Grandmother playing the piano as childhood versions of me and my younger sister bound up the stairs to her house.

Chris Brogan recently wrote about “Emotions At A Distance” – or, in other words, remembering that the people we connect and deal with from behind computer screens are just that – people.

It’s easy to get caught up in the nuances of your work from inside a practice room or behind a computer monitor. Not so easy when you’re performing your music in front of a crowd, or get recognized by a fan on the street.  Music connects people across age differences, language barriers, and continents.  Always remember that people have a choice to listen to your music, and that the music you create forms a very real part of the soundtrack of their lives.

What memories do you associated with music?

There’s a lot of talk about what social media is, especially lately.

“It’s a new way to communicate”

“It’s a new distribution platform for ideas and voices”

“It’s the hot new thing to do!”

“It’s the thing that is ruining everything else, including publishing!”

Some of the statements above may be true, but what isn’t ever covered is what social media is not.

Social media is not a new platform from which to shout your message to anyone listening.

Social media is not the new email.

Social media is not the be-all, end-all.

Social media is not the sole force behind the declining recording and publishing businesses.

Social media is not a tool you can pick up and discard at will.

Social media is not easy.

Social media is not free.

I’ve written before about how to not use social tools. Twitter, Facebook and the mentality behind MySpace, for example.

These posts revolve around a single principle – you can’t successfully use social media to market yourself if you think like an ad executive in the 70′s.

Social media requires a shift in thinking.  Stop thinking of your fans as big dollar signs, waiting to buy your concert tickets, latest schwag or newest CD. Start thinking of them as people, with preferences and lives – of which you are a part by their choice.

Spamming your “friends” or fans with glittery comments on the latest and greatest social networking site won’t work, just like sending them auto DM’s or spammy @ messages on Twitter won’t work.  You don’t like getting spam email, so why would you ever think of sending spam “conversation starters” across the social web?

Social media isn’t easy, and it’s certainly not free. It requires time, effort and a lot of thought. But first, it requires an understanding that your fans are your fans because they want to be, and not simply open wallets.

They want to be treated like a human being, and you must understand that before you can be successful.

Do you disagree? Perhaps you want to share an example of someone you like using social media well? Leave it in the comments!

Photo credit: Alejandro Groenewold

You know that crazy guy on the street corner, shouting at you to buy his wares? They may be designer handbags (fake), pashminas, fruit, or biblical reckonings. Whatever he’s selling, he passionately wants you to buy. Obviously he conveys this by yelling at you. Obviously.

How often does that work?

… how about “It never works, unless I have a genuine need to buy his stuff – and then I buy despite the yelling.” That seems about right for me, and I know many others in this great city will also agree.

Marketing has gone from a “tell anyone who will listen our message, over and over again, and hope that they’ll eventually buy from us”, to a much more relationship-based approach.  Without being all buzzwordy – people want to talk to people and companies they’re interested in. They’re not as interested in listening to said people and companies shout in their general direction, and some are just plain turned off by the shouting.

The point is this: Social media tools aren’t just about taking the same practices from “old” marketing ways and adopting them to “new”. You can’t expect to shout at people on Twitter or Facebook like you used to do (even on MySpace, the horrors!) and have them pay attention to you. They just won’t.

If you don’t “get” it you’re probably wondering “Wait, why won’t they pay attention?”. If you do “get” it, you’re probably thinking “Yup, I agree!”.

For the ones that don’t “get” it – it boils down to the way you think about your fans/consumers. They’re not nameless and faceless people who happen to buy your stuff. They have personalities, they have passions, they have interests, they have likes and dislikes. You fit in there somewhere, which is why they buy your stuff. You have to quit thinking about your fans/consumers as anonymous pockets of money and start thinking about them for what they are – people. Fans. Consumers. Actual living breathing females and males with actual lives.

That’s where you start from!

Suddenly, shouting at people with lives and interests doesn’t make so much sense.  You wouldn’t do this in a normal social setting, so why would you online?

For years the recording industry, and even the music industry as a whole, viewed their customers as anonymous open wallets. Clearly this hasn’t worked for the recording industry in recent years, and the public is finally seeing a shift towards viewing people as actual people.

Consumers across all markets now have a true voice, and fans/consumers expect you to at the very least, listen to them.

So – on behalf of all fans and consumers out there, I beg you.  Bands? Solo artists? Please stop shouting at me. Please stop “connecting” with me on social sites and then turning the conversation around so it’s 100% about you.  I’ll stop listening, and I’ll show you that by unsubscribing, or unfollowing, or unfriending.

Chris Brogan touches on this in a recent post – check it out here (excerpt below).

The Mindset: Don’t Be That Guy

First, learn to promote, but don’t be that guy. It’s really important that you are participatory in the social space. If you’re here just to talk about you, your work just won’t get as much spread. People won’t take the actions that they might if they feel you’re “one of us.” By starting with this point, I’m saying this: your mileage WILL vary if you approach social media tools as just another channel exactly like what you were doing with marketing.

Have you had this happen to you before? Do you have more to add? Say so in the comments!

There’s a lot of talk these days about MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.  What isn’t often discussed (or to be honest, thought about, if you’re an artist) is the data ownership aspect of each of these networks. A lot of artists have moved away from email marketing and towards social marketing – and as a result, not as much focus is placed on building and maintaining a healthy email list.

Preferences Change Over Time

As an artist, your music will evolve over time. Your fan base will hopefully grow with you, but in order to help that growth, you need a consistent way to connect with your fans.  Five years ago, they were on MySpace.  Today, they’re most likely on Facebook, and some are on Twitter.

What hasn’t changed is their love of your music. What has changed is the tools they use to communicate with each other online.

You’re probably on all of the networks they participate in already. You have a MySpace Music page, a Facebook Fan page, and a Twitter handle.

Great and fabulous.

What happens if MySpace, Facebook and Twitter all shut down – tomorrow?

Do you have any way to reach out to your fans left, or did your options just disappear?

For most of you out there, your options just went out the window.

It’s great to connect with your fans where they already exist online, but this shouldn’t be your only way of connecting with them.  As an artist, you need to own your audience, or at least, know their email address!

Here are some easy ways to start your email list:

Put a “sign up for our email” prompt on every page you have – Many tools are free (like MailChimp, for example) and provide the ability to create a form. Look, ma, it’s automated and organized!

Have an email sign-up sheet at the door of every gig – Go old school and collect email/mailing addresses and other information by hand. They’re coming to your show, obviously they’re interested!

Create a website and (you guessed it), put a “Sign up for our email” prompt on every page – Web hosting services can be fairly cheap, and there are many free systems out there (like WordPress, which I use), to help you create and maintain a site, even if you don’t know anything about designing a website.

If you get into a conversation with someone and take it private (DM’s, Facebook Messages, etc), send them your email and invite them to continue the conversation via email.

Include your email/website address on everything – videos, flyers, your website, business cards, etc.

Most importantly – make it WORTH your fans time to sign up for your emails. I’ll cover how to effectively email them in a further post, but start thinking about the emails you like reading, keeping in mind the marketing emails you always look out for.

Do you have any more ideas about how to build your email list? Any success stories to share? The comments are yours – so leave ‘em!

Before I tell this story, I want to fully disclose that I’m involved with this project. I DO NOT receive monetary compensation for my work (nor have I ever) on this project, but I do receive the releases we put out for free in digital format. Thus far I haven’t received the actual vinyl releases for free, but this may happen in the future, so I’ll go ahead and disclose that now, too.

In other words, I put in a lot of work at night and on the weekends and get “paid” in free music a few times a year.

I’ve written before about collaboration, and this is an extension of that story.

In 2006, a few members of the dubstepforum.com message board mentioned in a thread (conversation) that the forum had a lot of unsigned talent among their 5,000 members, and enough resources on the forum to start a record label and get those talented artists exposed to the limelight.

In short order, Pressing Issues was formed. Members of dubstepforum.com came together from all over the US (NYC all the way to San Francisco), Canada, the UK, and eastern europe to work in A&R, marketing, operations and design roles.

The logo? Community chosen
The music? Submitted by the community and voted on by the community
The initial funding? Provided by the community

Everything about this project came from the community.

Pressing Issues took a hiatus in late 2008-2009, but is now back planning the 3rd release. Even though dubstepforum.com has exploded from 5,000 to almost 35,000 members, Pressing Issues is still about the community.

The greatest thing about the concept is that every community has the power to come together and make a project like this happen. We all have our unique talents, our individual interests, and something special to contribute to group projects.

I challenge musicians and aspiring musicians out there reading to see what your community can come together to accomplish. As already shown, something as simple as a post on a message board can quickly transform into something much bigger. In this case, a record label. In your case… who knows?

I’ll admit this upfront – this post is selfish.  I cannot count the number of times I’ve logged into Facebook and had an event invitation in my inbox for an event I couldn’t possibly attend.

You know what I mean. You log into Facebook and WHAMMO!, you have an invitation to an event that you’ll never attend because it’s 15 states away and a 2,000 mile drive. Or, even more outrageous, it’s across an ocean and a 5+ hour plane ride away.

What’s the culprit?

Lack.

Of.

Thought.

Why do I care? As a fan, I want to believe that you care about me. Read the first sentence again – “this post is selfish.”

As a band, a DJ or a solo musician, you play gigs. As a fan, I really like that! I love to come see you play and I’m usually really happy when you come play in my area.

But as a socially networked busy human being, I’m not a fan of logging into my Facebook account to see event invitation after event invitation for gigs far far away that I’ll never be able to attend.

Here’s a step-by-step guide you can use to help lessen my frustration, make me feel like you care about me, and still make sure I show up to your gigs:

1. When inviting guests/fans to an event, use the drop-down box in the upper left-hand corner of the event invitation to select networks, friends lists or groups of people to invite
2. Invite people from the surrounding areas to your gigs

It’s really that simple.

As an alternative, you can also create Friend Lists.  This would be useful if you have a group of people who you know are die-hard fans and always travel to your gigs. Instead of going through and selecting them one by one, you can put them on a Friends List and select that one list to invite to all of your gigs.

How to create a Friend List:

1. Click on your “Friend” tab
2. Click “Create New List” from the upper left-hand corner
3. Name your list and put your friends on it

What’s the result?

For the fan – they’re invited to gigs that are relevant to their life. They feel like you take care when inviting them via Facebook to your gigs, which (for me, at least) makes me feel like you care.

For the musician – you have a smaller invite list, but a more accurate count of people who are coming. This should give you a more accurate count of people who are actually going to the event, instead of lots of “Not Attending” and “Maybe Attending”  responses cluttering the event invitation.

Social media isn’t about shouting your message to everyone within your reach and hoping that a few pick up on it. It’s about talking to people that are relevant and giving them a voice.  Event spamming me by inviting me to events I’ll clearly never attend is the equivalent of shouting, and it doesn’t equal a happy fan in the end.

“As a fan, I want to believe that you care about me.”  Show me you care and think when you invite people to your gigs, please!