When you first start out in music marketing everything seems confusing and weird…
You can often sit in-front of the computer for hours on end trying to work out if you have taken the right advice, or if the time you are investing blogging and building your website is actually just distracting you from making music.
It’s a massive leap of faith to start something new, especially when it takes a couple of months before you see real results.
Then one day a little spark goes off in your head and the fog seems to be lifted. Suddenly you see things very clearly and the subtle little details jump out at you like a pig doing the moonwalk.
It’s kind of like learning a recipe and suddenly you know how to make blueberry pancakes without Googling it!
But this tasty moment comes at a different time for everyone, which is why it’s so important to continue mixing things up even when it looks hopeless. I see so many musicians who work away for years and then give up just as they’re about to reach the “tipping point” where opportunities come up automatically.
My mission with this article is to get you cooking so that you will have your moment of clarity before the daemons get ya…
Finding The Right Ingredients
This is going to take some trial and error because there is no way that you can ever get it 100% right first time. Write your plan fast and then start tracking your progress.
It will become very clear if you need to tweak something.
1. What ingredients will you need?
To work this out you just need to answer a simple question to the best of your ability…
What tasks, if you do them like a religion everyday will ultimately lead to music career success?
2. What should you ignore?
If your first goal is to get 1000 true fans on your email list, then you want to remove everything from the recipe that does not move you closer to that goal.
Create a low fat music marketing diet, and cleverly use your time to achieve things that will have the highest impact.
3. Know your limits…
If you only have an hour a day to work on your career then there is not much chance that you are going to be able to write 4 blog posts and finish off a new song as well.
Make your recipe practical and easy to follow.
4. Work from a check list…
There is nothing worse than getting home from work feeling a music career buzz only to get confused about what you should be spending your precious time on.
Make sure that you keep a simple list next to your computer with the tasks you need to be completing each day.
5. Focus…
This is like a war!
When you sit down to write or schedule out some tweets there will be emails, text messages and phone calls all trying to pull you away from what you’re doing.
Whenever something does pull you away from you most important tasks just make a note of it and do it when your critical focus time is over.
Note: It can be a lot more fun to work on your band logo, but this is not going to make or break your career.
6. Follow your plan and tweak it…
A recipe that stays on the shelf is no better than a piece of toilet paper.
Now that you have created your simple plan you need to follow it obsessively every day and notice what’s working.
You might meet a few problems and challenges along the way so you need to be able to roll with the punches and tweak your plan as necessary.
A Simple 1 Hour Recipe You Can Steal
Below you will find a road map that I have used in my own career and that I sometimes give to my clients.
It’s not fancy and there are not a million steps, but I have found that if you follow this process everyday you will ultimately grow you music career exponentially.
1. Record and post…
Use my songwriting process to churn out new music everyday, then find a way to lay the recording down simply.
Once you have finished your recording post it to Youtube then use the embed code to post it to your own blog. Once on your blog use Twitter, Facebook and your email list to let your fans know that you have some new content for them.
Your recording does not have to be very complex. Just jump in-front of your webcam with a guitar if you have to. A great song is a great song.
2. Connect with 3 popular music bloggers…
Your goal should be to make friends with these guys and ultimately inspire them to help you with one of the following things…
- Ask them to review and promote your music in exchange for 100% commission Read More
- Supply them with guest posts Read More
- Interview them for your own blog. (There is nothing an hour on skype to get friendly with someone.)
As soon as I started to add this networking element to my recipe things started to move a lot faster.
Make a spreadsheet of all your contacts and connect with them on a regular basis. Make sure that you try and build a real friendship rather than always asking them to help you without offering anything in return.
3. Lead your market…
Using my Google music alerts method track down what is going on in your music scene and post the best of the best to Twitter, Facebook and your own blog. Fans will start to visit your site each day just to keep up to date with the latest news. (This is also a great way to notice great opportunities.)
Final Thoughts
Feel free to copy the process above, this is not a definitive music marketing plan but it’s a good start. To be honest with you it’s not really about what you do as much as it’s about turning up every day and taking action.
Do what you feel comfortable with and make sure that you’re all over your music scene like a kid in a playground.
Happy cooking,
- Chris
Watch the video podcast version below…
Tags: Music Career, Music Career recipe
Leave A Reply (No comments So Far)