What is it about musicians that they feel they have to do everything themselves? I think it’s one of the main reasons why so many of them fail when trying to establish an online presence. Anyway, I’m going to relate a little story and then offer some advice on how to give yourself a better chance of making it online in the music business.
True story time.
I used to be a very successful marketer. I lost my last corporate America job in 2000. Long story. For three years after that I tried finding work with no luck. I finally turned to the Internet. It took me a while but eventually I started to make a nice living that ballooned into a very nice living.
Then the unexpected happened.
My methods for driving traffic to my sites stopped working because of changes at Google. It didn’t happen overnight but I gradually started seeing a decline in my opt ins and sales. Then one day it just dried up completely.
To make a long story short, things got so bad that I had to abandon my old business and try something new. That’s when I decided to go into the royalty free music business and other related ventures.
My problem is, my marketing skills are terribly outdated. I honestly don’t know how to drive traffic to my site. Well, instead of knocking my brains out and trying to do this by myself, I went to a marketing forum and asked for help. Guess what? I’m getting help. The people there have been, for the most part, very helpful Some have even offered their services.
Now everything is in the early stages so I don’t have any results to report back to you yet, but I do know from past experience that once a plan is in place, one that has been tested and proven, it’s just a matter of time before the traffic starts coming in, along with the income.
In short, I am totally confident that by this same time next year, I’ll be writing an article telling everybody how I’m back on top of the world. And part of the reason is because I asked for help. I didn’t try to do it all by myself.
Okay, so what advice do I have to give you today?
Well, for starters, you need to sit down with a pen and paper (get away from the darn computer for crying out loud) and write down your strengths and weaknesses. We all have both. I’m going to assume that your strengths are related to your music. If not, then you’ve got a big problem that I can’t help you with other than to say, work on your craft. So let’s assume for now that the music is solid but you have absolutely no idea how to get your name out there and start building a following. What do you do?
Go to a marketing forum. I suggest the Warrior Forum. In spite of a few snarky people, a lot of folks there are very helpful. I would honestly be lost without the place.
When you go there, tell them exactly what you’re doing and that you need marketing suggestions for getting your name out there. I would offer some myself but like I said, I am no longer a marketing expert so anything I would tell you in that area would probably be wrong unless I actually tried it myself and it worked. But the marketers at this forum HAVE done all this stuff and they know what works and what’s a waste of time.
But getting your name out there is only part of the battle. You need to have a web presence that grab people’s attention. In short, you need a kick ass site. I can’t design a good looking site to save my life. So what did I do? I went to a friend of a friend and he designed this site for me. Personally, I think it’s one of the best looking royalty free music sites on the Internet. Fortunately for me, because it was a friend, I didn’t have to pay too much for it. But even if you don’t know anybody, there is always someone out there who is running a special or just trying to make a name for themselves and they do pretty darn good work. You just have to keep your eyes open for deals.
We’re not done. You have your site and you have your traffic driving methods but you still need an ad pitch. Whatever it is you’re trying to sell, you need to put it into words that are going to make your prospects take action. That takes copywriting skills. Not a lot of musicians have them. Yeah, writing copy is not the same thing as writing a dance track. I wish. And while I used to write my own copy for my old business, I would never trust my skills for what I’m trying to do now outside of this site. Yes, I do have plans that I’m keeping under wraps for now. So I’m going to have to bite the bullet and hire a copywriter. I’ll tell you right now, they’re not cheap. Not the good ones anyway. This is something you may have to save up for. Either that or try to find an up and coming copywriter who just happens to have some great skills. They’re out there. You just have to look.
And there may be other little odds and ends that you’ll have to take care of. Maybe your business will have to do with show bookings and you’re totally unorganized when it comes to keeping track of where and when you have your next show. For that, you might want to hire an administrative assistant.
Point I’m trying to make, and I hope I’ve made it, is that you can’t do it all yourself unless you’re some kind of superman. I used to think I was one of them. I was wrong.
There is no shame in going for help. The only shame is letting a business crumble to the ground because you didn’t.
For The Love Of Music,
Steven “Wags” Wagenheim