In today’s economy getting the word out about your work and music can be tough. Television, radio and newspaper ads can be extremely expensive, and to tell the truth with the abundance of ads in a paper, it can be easily over looked. Television and radio ads can go under the radar just as easily. Most people, when a commercial comes on during a TV show, get up to find a snack or use the restroom, and with the radio, the listener tends to surf for another song. So what do you do? If you’re an artist or musician it’s kind of funny to see an ad on the television, although it makes more sense for a musician when a CD is released. The best form of advertising is by word of mouth, but if nobody knows about you, the point is mute.
Instead, musicians and artists are finding the 21st century technology very handy in marketing and advertising their merchandise and the best part, most of it’s free. With the creation of the Internet, social networking sites have seen a boom in online networking and marketing that costs no more than a few hours of your time a day- a price tag many artists and musicians will gladly pay for a good fan. These networks allow the musician or artist to actually communicate, network and socialize with fans, businesses and other prominent people across the world without ever leaving their humble abode. Literally you could be talking with the CEO of a major corporation in your underwear. Imagine slamming that deal of a lifetime while sipping coffee, with teeth and hair unbrushed in your bathrobe!
Social network sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have played a major part of the “modern” artists success. MySpace and Facebook allow the artist another “web presence” so to say, giving them powerful tools like a blog, and friend capability and really another website to market themselves. The cost is free, the only downfall to that is the occasional spam e- mail. MySpace is a little bit more liberal, allowing you to create a specific design to give you that signature style, whereas Facebook is more contemporary and conservative, with each site looking the same. Then Twitter comes in allowing you to make direct to the point statements about your work, or whatever you have to say. It teaches you how to get to the point so you don’t beat around the bush. Facebook also allows Twitter to update your “friend status,” which is helpful for the busy artist; you update it once on Twitter and it updates Facebook as well.
These sites have literally millions of subscribers to the network, so the possibility of exposure is limitless, although it does depend on the time and energy you spend making it happen. We all know results vary on the effort you put into something; little effort gets little results. These sites are also great because they are indexed in Google, so it allows searchers a possibility to find you in another place if your personal website doesn’t have high rankings (which may not be any fault of your own). In short, if they find your MySpace before they find your website, the MySpace should have a link back to your website, and vice versa.
Social networking sites are also a great way to target the younger generation. Have you ever seen a teenager not glued to their phone or computer chatting away on these sites? It’s amazing they get their homework done at all. If you are looking to target a younger generation, then this is the place to search. The average age group on these type of sites is 13 to 27. That age group makes up the majority of consumer spending on music and many types of art and clothing. From experience, I have noticed people actually ask me if I have a site on MySpace or Facebook because they want another friend; they didn’t care if I had a website or not.
The absolute best part about these sites… they are free! They also allow you to advertise on them, giving you even more chances for exposure to your profile or website. This magazine actually used MySpaces ad site, with great results. We had 800 hits for $35.00, and managed to get three new artists out of it for a story. That isn’t bad at all if you ask me.
The key, when using these sites successfully, is to: 1. Make sure there are links to all your sites on each of these sites (excluding Twitter because it allows only one URL). 2. Update them frequently. 3. Be honest. 4. Make sure you have the same information on each of these sites as you would on your .com as best as you can.
If you follow those simple steps, you can network with ease and maybe find your next client at the click of a button! Though we must stress, this may not work for everyone, and it’s not an overnight guarantee for success, it does take a lot of time and effort. However, if you are committed, then it will pay off in the end.
Social Networks