Ariel Publicity

A few weeks ago, I threw a book launch party for my friends, Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan to celebrate the launch of their new fabulous book, “The Indie Band Survival Guide,” published by St. Martin’s Griffin here in New York, and I was honored to be interviewed and prominently featured in the PR chapter. Weighing in at 329 pages, it is jam-packed full of incredible information.

“The Indie Band Survival Guide” is a book that all artists, independent or not, need to own.

Randy & Jason are founding members of the Chicago based independent band Beatnik Turtle, and this book started out as their blog where they chronicled their personal experience releasing a whopping 18 albums, touring, building a formidable following, and writing music for film and TV. This book was not motivated by money or a desire for fame. It came from the 12 years of experience as independent artists that they achieved directly by releasing albums, and as they learned along the way, they wrote it all down. As their lessons and experiences grew, so did their blog, and because of their blog a literary agent approached them, and they got a publishing deal.

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The #1 Technique to Swiftly Increase Your Fanbase

The number one problem I encounter time and time again with musicians is: Creating music comes naturally. Marketing, self-promotion and business do not. Bands want to focus solely on creating music and I speak to many artists who flat out refuse to do more than the bare minimum amount of marketing. The problem is they are not having the same amount of success as my artists who spend time focusing on growing their fanbase and communicating with them regularly.

Content may be King. But, Marketing is Queen

There is no one coming to rescue you from the downward spiral that the industry is facing at this very moment.  It is up to you to empower yourself to succeed. In this issue of Sound Advice I will give away the #1 secret I have seen that really works for meaningfully building a fanbase.

This issue is a long one because I wanted to tell the story that prompted it – to skip to the meat of this article and learn my #1 technique for building your fanbase, scroll down to the section that says: 1% OF EVERY LIST BUYS

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A Sure Way To Get Googled & Connect with New Fans

Amazon.com, we all know is a wonderful site, where you can buy books, CDs, DVDs, and appliances, and it magically knows what you like and want by suggesting things to you based on what you have bought in the past.

Amazon is the biggest online seller CDs in the world and I know that they take 55% of your selling price but many people use it exclusively to purchase music. So if you are not on Amazon sign up immediately to sell your music there.

Amazon is a fabulous self-promotion tool and you can use it to:

• Get you found high up in Google searches
• Give your fans and friends a place to review and rate your CDs
• Let you connect to fans who may not have even known they were fans
• Allow you to show off sides of you your fans may not know
• It’s a great way to make an additional online impression.

Here’s what to do: Go to: http://www.amazon.com

If you do not already have a profile you need to create one.

1. Create a profile with your photo and a short bio about you. Each member of your bandshould also do this.

2.  Create several listmania lists of CDs that you recommend, and put your own CD into these lists

I just created: A Musicians Guide To Understanding The “New” Music Business:

To see it click here

Notice how I put my own book on it first ? You will also notice that I was very upfront about the fact that I am the author of this book and I included a review written by someone else (Thanks Mari Rosa) to back me up.

I suggest creating listmanias that are listing artists that you fit in well with, and get compared to, and name the list something like: For Avid Fans of Joni Mitchell, or I did a quick search and found an intriguing title: The Greatest CDs That You’ve Never Heard  and a useful list: Music to fall asleep by.  Both of these are excellent ideas.

Listmania – Not Just For Music

Don’t just stop with CDs and music make lists of books that you love, or DVD movies that you suggest. Think of your average fan, and what they might like. They probably like what you like, and when they are googling you, or something they like, your Amazon profile and list will show up. This is a great way to show that you are well-rounded person. He reads, he’s a film buff, and a subtle way of branding your own music on to a site that is full trafficked by other people.  This is also a great way to bond with your fans on a whole other level.

Get Reviews – Build your Amazon reputation by asking

Not only should you review your own music on Amazon, but you should review other artists you like and respect. Also, do not be shy to ask your fans and family to review your CDs as well.  People always read customer reviews, and well reviewed CDs get bought.

Buy Yourself!

Another way to make sure that you show up for fans of other artists is purchase your CD from Amazon, while you purchase a CD from one of the bands that you get compared to often.

You’ll have to do this a few times, but it’s well worth the investment, because at, when people are searching for products, Amazon will tell them:  Customers who bought this item, also bought – and your album will show up!

There are dozens of other ways to use Amazon and I would love to hear your Amazon self promotion stories – please post them on my blog at http://www.arielpublicity.com/blog

Here’s to your success,

- Ariel

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One key thing I have learned over the past few years of attending workshops and garnering techniques from some of the worlds most successful people is: Those people did not get there alone. Success takes support and this issue of Sound Advice will show you how to create a support group that can help you stay on track and achieve your music career success. It’s called a Mastermind Group.
 

I hear it all of the time – musicians call me up and say: “If only I had a manager,” or a booking agent or a record label etc. And I in turn say: It’s hard to get a manager when you are just starting out However its not hard to get some help!
 

For those of you in bands: Does this scenario sound familiar? One person is in charge of doing all of the business affairs and the other members of the band just show up (sometimes they don’t even show up on time!) If you’ve got a band of hired guns, this sadly is your cross to bear. However, if your band is considered an equal team, I highly suggest that you include your band members in your mastermind group. If you are the only active member of your band on the business side that’s OK – you can build yourself some great support with non- band members.
 

What a Mastermind Group is
A mastermind group is a small team of people that meets one to two times per month, sits down, and brainstorms together, creates goals, makes lists, talks about objectives, and keeps each other accountable so that that you will move forward with your goals and achieve them faster.
 

What a Mastermind Group is Not
A Mastermind is NOT band bitch session where you air your dirty laundry and get angry at each other (We call that a band meeting ). A mastermind meeting is a place for goals and a place for action and a place where you can really focus on yourself and your career.
 

Setting Up Your Mastermind Group
I suggest you create a group of four to six people – if you are married or part of couple and you want to set and achieve goals with your spouse or significant other I suggest a group of 3 couples (it’s OK to have different goals). If you are not part of a couple, I suggest a group of three to four others in addition to you. These people do not have to be in the music business, and it may actually be better if they are not. These people also do not have to be reaching for the same type of goals – they will however need your good input to achieve them, and you will need theirs.
 

Steps To Take

1. Choose fellow masterminders to invite that you admire and that you look up to.
2. Choose people who are strong self-starters and who know how to get the job done, who perhaps own their own businesses. Having someone in your mastermind group who runs a business will really help motivate you.
3. Preset a scheduled date and time every month or twice a month. The third Wednesday of each month, perhaps. Or a dinnertime every first and third Tuesday of the month – Don’t break your commitment – you need to keep this set time to achieve results. How you handle this mastermind is critical to your success.

 
Setting Achievable Goals Is Key
Be careful when setting your goals. Start with ones that you can achieve within the first month (redesigning your newsletter, re-writing your pitch, booking one gig etc) so you feel like you are accomplishing small victories along the way.
 

Please read my previous article on how to set goals and achieve them here:
http://www.arielpublicity.com/sound_advice/setting-goals.html
 

At Your Scheduled Date and Time

1. Come to each meeting with an agenda.
2. Don’t make this a social hour – you are getting together to work – Dive in quick and socialize when you are all done with your meeting.
3. Choose a scribe. One person should be in charge of writing down what happened with measurable goals, actions, and results with dates set for each one and the scribe will e-mail the notes after each and every meeting so that everybody can keep up-to-date with each other.
4. Hold each other accountable – Set check in times to stay on track.

 
Between sessions, you should be in touch a few times to make sure measures are being met.
 

Set up a Wiki
A Wiki is a great way that everybody can stay in touch without losing track of e-mails. I recommend
Ning – http://www.ning.com
PB Wiki – http://www.pbwiki.com/
 

Keep a Reading List
Have a reading list of books and links to articles that may be helpful to the group and reasons why you are recommending these books on your group Wiki. Books on Time management or on small business or on how to tour – whatever you are trying to accomplish there is probably already a book or an article out there.
 

Join My New Mastermind Group For Extra Support
I just started a mastermind group that already has 80 artists in it helping each other out with goals. To get a free membership all you have to do is purchase my book: Music Success in 9 Weeks http://www.cyberprbook.com
 

Have Fun
The last piece of advice I’ll give is This process should be fun!
 

This is you creating your career as a musician and it should feel like a joy, not a dreaded homework assignment.
 

I’d love to hear about your Masterminds. Please report them to me at Ariel@arielpublicity.com

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BOOK REVIEW:

Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs by Geoff Livingston and Brian Solis & How It Relates To PR & Marketing In The “New” Music Business

“The PR revolution will be socialized. Engage or die.”

“Communications have evolved more in the last 10 years, than in the previous 100.”
- Now is Gone

Now Is Gone addresses the issues that the marketing and PR world are currently facing in the new world of online social networks, transparent communication and the rise of the customer as the critic. This book struck a nerve that is so close to my own experience as a recovering traditional publicist and I have to share it’s message with you. If you are handling your own PR and marketing this book should be at the top of your required reading list.

Incredulous musicians consistently ask why I gave up handling traditional PR (my firm handles online PR only). Over the years I have placed thousands of articles, calendar listings, TV bookings and radio interviews and I was good at it, but the truth is, I began to loathe it. Two things contributed to this:
1. The PR game never changed – it was the same grind every day and creatively I felt stifled.
2.It was getting harder and harder to manifest results for my artists (and creating lackluster results was no fun).

Now Is Gone addresses why these 2 things became so real for me. The highlights follow and I have put them into perspective so that they apply directly to the music business and musicians throughout, I have quoted from this wonderful book heavily.

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It’s been an insane summer / early fall – since our last newsletter I’ve lost my home in a fire – it was a freak accident I was at work when an old extension cord caused a spark and my apt is now a charred ruin.

So I now know the answer to “What would you grab if your house was on fire?”

(answer: my Snoopy I got when I was two, & my laptop)

Then I almost lost my mother who almost died in an accident – making the “losing my house” part of the summer seem like a picnic.

I am beyond thankful that no one got hurt except for my cat Mookie (pictured above), who was rescued by the awesome NYFD – after a week in the kitty hospital he came back home. And my mom is back home recovering and very very happy to be alive!

So the theme of this here newsletter is: INSURANCE – I can’t stress enough how important this is.

But – what do you do as a musician working in your own band / studio and how do you qualify?

Here’s what I learned and I have listed the services I found from easiest to the more complicated to navigate.

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