So how do you start reaching out to people and promoting your music when only your 5 friends and their mothers know about your band? Here are some sound self-promotion tips for new musicians. Don’t worry; these tips would not make you appear desperate.
Get Social thru Social networks.
Yes, even if only 5 people know your band exists, it is important that you develop your online presence as soon as now. Almost everyone is glued to their computer screens every single day so the best way to reach people is by using the internet. Create a kick-ass website, myspace account, Facebook page, twitter account, and update them once in a while. Do not flood your facebook and blogs with posts or else people would get annoyed and “hide” you…worse, they would delete you (Que horror!). But you also have to make sure you update regularly. For example, if you plan to update your blog once or twice a week, make sure that no week would pass without at least one update. Your interested followers pay attention to these things.
Develop long-term relationship with your fans.
So you only have a total of 15 fans as of now (20, including your family), doesn’t mean you should just put them aside as you try to gather more and more fans. You have to reach out to them as frequently as you feel necessary, make them feel special, treat them like they own you and they’ll stick to you like glue. Remember that all fans want to feel special so you better treat them like they mean the world to you. E-mail them regularly, address them using their first names, and be pleasant everytime someone approaches you.
Get out and be friendly with other Musicians.
In this ‘business’, contacts is key. Know the right people, get to know them better, ask advice, lend a helping hand, promote other bands, play for free, talk, smile, etc. Refrain from having a negative mindset about the music industry people. Instead, learn to accept that you are all helping each other climb to the top. Do not be shy to ask the more established bands for advice or help. Ask them if they need bands to open their gig and that you are very willing to play for free. They won’t bite.
Prepare answers to possible band questions. You do not want to sound like an inarticulate goof on his first job interview when someone interviews your band, do you? You want to appear fluent-like you really know what you are talking about. But let’s face it; it is rare for anyone to be suave on the first interview. So to avoid looking foolish, try to come up with a list of possible questions that people would ask, then answer each one of them briefly. Sometimes, the reason why we stutter when we are being interviewed is simply because we do not know the answers. This technique does not guarantee that you’d not stutter a lot though, but it would at least guarantee that your answers make sense.
Define your image and stick to it.
So are you the ‘cool, laidback band who doesn’t care much about their fame or their looks’ kind or the ‘intellectual hippies who care about their music as much as they care about world peace, mother earth, and spirituality’ kind? You have to define what you are and what you are not and stick to it. This may seem silly but it helps build your image. This should effortlessly (I hope) reflect in your music, in the way you perform, in the way you interact with people, in your blogs, etc. This is simpler if you are a one-man musician but if you are in a band, it could get a bit confusing and complicated so you better talk about this and come up with a solid identity as a band.
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