Considering all the new features, I thought a new post about Onesheet was warranted. So let’s start with a biggie. Onesheet now lets you use your own domain! Obviously, this one is huge for those who want to use Onesheet as their homepage. In the previous version, users had a customized onesheet.com URL, and while this was nice, it’s not nearly as good as having your own domain. Along with having your own domain, Onesheet can now gather Google Analytics and add search engine tags, both of which are extremely valuable.

Right in line with the domain feature is the ability to remove Onesheet branding. If you sign up for the Pro version, Onesheet will remove all it’s own branding from the page. I’ve long told artists one of the big reasons they need their own website is it is the only place that has no branding other than their own. Back in the day when people still used MySpace (that’s right, back in the day) you could add banners and players and really ‘pimp’ out your MySpace page. But you could never get away from the fact that it would always say ‘MySpace’ and have the MySpace color scheme. Same deal with facebook. The page will always have that blue banner that says ‘facebook’ in the upper hand left corner. Not the case with Onesheet. The fact that the background image defines what the page will look like gives you unlimited options where branding and image are concerned. And being able to take away the Onesheet branding focuses the page 100% on you.

Onesheet also realized that many of us have more than one project or want to create specialized pages for each release. With one account you can now make multiple Onesheets so you can have one for your latest single, album, video, new band or whatever it happens to be. Not a musician or in a band? No worries, Onesheets are now available for filmmakers, actors, comedians, etc…

In addition to these features, they’ve of course continued to make new partnerships and have whole slew of new widgets you can build into your Onesheet. Onesheet now has email list signup widgets, fan funding campaign widgets, event date widgets, more video and audio widgets, etc…

One of my favorites, Onesheet added stores. They have Amazon and CD Baby store widgets that can go right on the landing page. Pretty slick, if I don’t say so myself.

All of these features lead me to rescind my original position. Onesheet has all the functionality you need to use it as your homepage. Of course, building a website provides you with more customization and can include more functionality, but it can also be quite expensive. And once you’ve paid for it you have to have the know-how to perform general upkeep on the site. Onesheet is beyond easy, and getting the pro version is just $4.99/month. I liked it before, and now I like it a lot more. But who cares if I like it, what do you guys think? Do you like the improvements made by Onesheet? Did they put in the features you were hoping for? Is Onesheet still lacking some features you’re dying to see? Share your thoughts in the comments section! ‘Till next time!

Hit me up on Twitter – @jloom718

Related Articles:

• Musician’s Arsenal: Killer Apps, Tools & Sites – Onesheet
• The Musician’s Arsenal: Killer Apps, Tools and Sites – Bandsintown
• Musician’s Arsenal: Killer Apps, Tools & Sites – Visibli

Artist Growth, at it’s core, is a tool to help bands better manage themselves (or to help managers better manage their bands). Lets say your band is ready to go out on tour. You know where you want to go, now you just need to get the shows booked. Artist Growth can jump in right away by helping you identify the right venues in the cities you want to hit. Their tool, “Industry Search”, will provide you contact details for venues, press and radio stations appropriate to your genre for specific regions.

Once the shows are booked it’s time for every bands’ favorite task. Promoting. Luckily, Artist Growth has us covered here too. They have developed “Action Packs” to cover all the tasks you’ll need to take care of in order to properly promote your shows. The tasks Artist Growth puts forward in their Action Packs are already split out into a schedule so you know when you need to complete each task to have everything in place on time. One very nice feature Artist Growth added was the ability to assign the tasks to individual members of the band.

Each member can then keep track of their tasks with a built in calendar. Artist Growth will tell you exactly what you need to accomplish each day and which tasks are a priority. It also allows each member to see who has completed what task, and which ones still need to be completed, making it easy for everyone to stay on top of their responsibilities.

Once you’ve properly promoted the show, Artist Growth allows you to keep track of revenue and inventory right within the app. As you sell merchandise at your show, you can log what you sell and how much you sold it for, as well as keeping track of how much you got paid for the gig (hopefully you got paid for the gig!).

Artist Growth has developed different Action Packs for Business Management, Marketing, Performance, Recording and Touring to help bands further develop their careers. Each of these Action Packs will provide a complete list of tasks that need to be completed and an appropriate timeline to get it done.

One of the coolest features of the Artist Growth app is it’s educational element, AGtv. The artist growth team went out and met with different industry professionals and asked them to share their wisdom on their area of expertise. By subscribing to different AGtv channels, users get to learn straight from the pros. Ariel Hyatt, for example, has a channel all about digital marketing (which is what Jonathan and Jacob came to our office to film) in which she shares tips and her philosophy on marketing yourself through social media.

Artist Growth is a fantastic app that allows bands to easily manage all their tasks, giving them ease of mind knowing everything they need to do is already scheduled. The best part is I’ve really only scratched the surface here, there are myriad of features and tools I just don’t have time to discuss in this post. I’m obviously sold, but I’m far more interested in what you think (I’m not the one in a touring band). What do you think? Are Artists Growth’s Action Packs really that helpful? Do they help you and your band be more productive and efficient? Tell me what you think in the comments.

Hit me up on Twitter – @jloom718

Related Articles:

• The Musician’s Arsenal: Killer Apps, Tools and Sites – Bandsintown
• Musician’s Arsenal: Killer Apps, Tools & Sites – Limelight
• The Musician’s Arsenal: Killer Apps, Tools and Sites – NoiseTrade

Google, in my humble opinion, is the most amazing invention since anything else I can really think of. And Google is not just a big search engine, although it would still be awesome if that’s all it did.

Google has been offering a suite of incredibly powerful tools for years; way before ‘in the clouds’ become the next big thing for companies like Apple and Microsoft. And to make it even better, Google has recently created a platform for musicians that offers even further tools that will help independent musicians all over the world to thrive in the digital world.

Google is, quite simply, a portal that truly puts all of the worlds electronic information at your fingertips – there’s a good reason why the word “Google” has become synonymous with searching online.

Here are 9 Hot Tips designed to help you through all of Google’s awesomeness and use it to your benefit.

1. Google Alerts
Have you ever spent hours trying to track down articles on a certain subject, topic or even about your band / your brand? With Google Alerts, whatever words you select will be searched by Google and emails will be delivered to in your in-box.

To Setup A Google Alert

1. Visit http://www.google.com/alerts
2. Choose your search terms.
   1. You may include wildcard characters (*) to expand the search to find words containing the search terms, i.e. “fi*” will return results for “fish,” as well as “ficus”
   2. Use quotation marks (“ Cyber PR ”) to search for only the exact words in the search, in the exact order entered
3. Choose the type of alert you would like.
4. Select the frequency of alert emails.(Daily works best)
5. Enter the email to which you would like the alerts emailed

2. Google Blog Search
This is basically a filter for only searching blogs; and with 100 million blogs out there, on top of all the websites, this is a great filter for all the noise. This is also a great place to track your band on blogs. To search on Google’s Blog search, go to this link: http://blogsearch.google.com/

3. Google RSS Reader
FIRST: Watch this video: It only takes 3 minutes and 43 seconds
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english
Now that you know exactly what this is from watching RSS in Plain English,
Setting up your RSS reader is the perfect way for getting the information you want (not only from blogs but from also from other sites you frequent) to come to you instead of having to check constantly to see what has been updated.

4. Gmail
If you still have an AOL or hotmail address, you’re in trouble. Gmail just may be the best e-mail program/website on the planet. Many bloggers and new media makers use Gmail and it shows your in the know, so get signed up.

Google e-mail is so wonderful because it is searchable by topic or by word, and Google provides you with a huge amount of storage space.

Using Gmail as your default mail host, you can set up an URL and add GoDaddy for 7.95, then point it to the server and voila! You have a customized e-mail addresses for free.

5. iGoogle – Your customizable home page
Whether RSS, certain news links or weather, Google home pages tools can certainly help you. Google does not have to be this one-frame box. By opening a Google account, you also gain access to iGoogle, your personal home page. Here you can add just about any sort of information you like; from the silly, such as small Flash games, to the more serious such as tracking mentions of your or your brand’s name on the Web.

6. Google Docs
Google Docs is, in essence, the entire Microsoft Office suite offered to you for free, is synced completely online so you can access it from anywhere without taking up any storage space on your computer, and can be shared with anyone who has a Google account. This is an incredibly helpful tool for you and your team to take advantage of to keep track of lyrics, merchandise, accounting, and anything else you would otherwise use Word or Excel for.

7. Google Music Artist Hub
Google recently introduced their first digital music store called Google Music, and unlike iTunes and Amazon, Google has made Google Music incredibly easy for you to get your music listed for sale by creating the Google Music Artist Hub, a platform for you to be able to list, organize and manage all of your music being sold in their store. And to make it even better, having your music for sale in the Google Music store also means that you can sell your music though Youtube as well!

All you need to do to get on Google Music is to register for an Artist Hub account, which requires a one-time, $25 fee, and they will walk you through how to get your music published!

8. Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a highly integrated, yet very simple calendar application that is synced to your Google account so it can be accessed form anywhere you can access the internet. The best reason for you to be using Google Calendar is that multiple users can sync to the same calendar, which means it is a free solution for you, your band, and your team to be on the same page for any upcoming events or deadlines that you may have.

9. Google +
Google introduced Google + in 2011, and the Facebook meets Twitter design and functionality made it the latest and greatest social networking platform to enter the competitive market. What makes Google+ so important for you is that, because it is a Google owned and operated platform, it ranks very highly in Google searches, helping you with your search engine optimization.

Google + is so deep that we dedicated an entire Musician’s Guide article to the platform, covering many of the important features you’ll need to know about!

10. Android
Google has entered the mobile market with Android, which is now the most widely used and fastest growing mobile operating system available. The obvious benefit to using Android is that it syncs all of your Google apps together, including Google +, Gmail, Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google Music and even Google Docs so that you’ll never miss a beat when you’re on the go.

Related Articles:

• The Musicians Guide to Google +
• Delegating The Heavy Lifting: A Musicians Guide for Getting Help & Support
• How To Be Your Own Publicist: A Step-By-Step Guide To Garnering Maximum Attention For Your Band In The Internet Age

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ariel Hyatt Releases Third Edition of Music Success in Nine Weeks With Forward Written by Derek Sivers

Global Expansion for Cyber PR® and an Official Cyber PR® Course at MTSU are Tributes to Her Own Book’s Advice on Success

Brooklyn, NY – In 2003, Ariel Hyatt, founder of Ariel Publicity in New York City, threw out the traditional publicity rule book and went “digital” with her venture Cyber PR® foreseeing the impact the advent of the internet and social media would have on public relations long before her peers.

Ariel’s Cyber PR® process marks the intersection of social media with engaged behavior, PR, and online marketing.  Her efforts to realize the public relations potential of social media while scaling her business resulted in innovation.  Ariel developed her web-based platform, Cyber PR®, to automate much of the traditional PR process and maximize client placement with new media makers.

Ariel didn’t just provide the platform; she made it her mission to educate artists on how to take advantage of the digital world. Her signature system Music Success in Nine Weeks is the cornerstone of her mission. Her message is so compelling that she has been invited to speak at festivals and conferences in twelve countries, including SXSW, MIDEM (France), CMJ, ASCAP’s I Create Music, Canadian Music Week, APRA’s Song Summit (Sydney), You Are In Control (Reykjavik), The ECMAs, and Grammy Camp. Ariel also hosts a widely popular video and newsletter series, Sound Advice, offering information about the emerging music business for musicians and music entrepreneurs.

In the Fall of 2011, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)  a globally recognized leader in the world of music business schools debuted an official Cyber PR® class based on the principals used in Ariel’s day-to-day business and in Music Success in Nine Weeks. She and her staff led students in a rigorous Cyber PR® accreditation process that included hands on experience working on active Cyber PR® Campaigns.

Just released in its third edition, with a forward by Derek Sivers, Music Success in Nine Weeks can easily be deemed the “what to do next” bible for both new and established artists. It provides the missing manual for musicians trying to make sense of social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, and teaches them how to make profitable businesses.

With her candid workbook style, it feels like you are sitting down with Ariel, scribbling your own ideas all over the book’s pages. Each book comes with a lifetime membership to join her online forum: Ariel’s Cyber PR® Mastermind where readers get support from fellow readers, and from Ariel and her staff.  The hands-on guide and support provides structure to what often feels like chaos.

“I am guiding musicians to take off their artists’ hats for a nine weeks and put on their business hats,” says Ariel. Her tactics have actualized exponential success for her most proactive readers by giving them a solid business strategy.

Her tools and approach are so meaningful in today’s digital music marketing landscape that her firm is expanding globally. At MIDEM 2012, Cyber PR® will announce their first international licensing partnership in France. Later this year, Ariel plans to expand into other international markets where popular music is consumed and marketed via social networks.

 ###

The book is available in ebook and paperback  exclusively at:  MusicSuccessInNineWeeks.com

For a review copy of the Third Edition of Music Success in Nine Weeks

or to arrange an interview with Ariel Hyatt, please contact:

Jon Ostrow at (212) 239-8384 • Jon@ArielPublicity.com

Related Articles:

• Music Success in Nine Weeks Blogging Challenge V.2!
• Our Music Success in Nine Weeks Contest is Coming Along Very Nicely!
• Canadian Songwriters Social Media Challenge for Career Driven Musicians

The last half of 2011 was intense for a lot of us.  The financial news across the world remained bleak, Occupy Wall Street was all over the news as the 99% spoke up to be heard.

The music business continued to take hits with Spotify’s arrival and news of more layoffs at record labels, management companies as we all scratched our heads to blog about positive things and good outcomes

Many of you may have seen this article (or another one) on setting goals as they crop up at this time of year.

It’s a new year and a clear slate is in front of all of us. The turning of the calendar from 2011 to 2012 is an ideal time to set your goals. I see a marked difference between artists who set finite goals and those who do not regardless of what is happening in the world and in the news.

Ask yourself: Is this the year I want to make a difference for my music career?  And if so – what difference and how?

Think of goal setting as if you were driving in a foreign place – You wouldn’t get where you expect to go without a clear set of directions. Goal setting is like drawing a map for yourself.

This article is designed to assist you in creating a personal roadmap for achieving what you would like with your musical career this year, whether you consider music your hobby and you do it part time or you are making a living out of it full-time.

I have included a few links from some of the best musician related posts on how to think about and achieve goals as well.  So, bookmark this long article and refer to it throughout the year!

MAPPING OUT YOUR GOALS

Many studies have proven that long-term perspective is the most accurate single predictor of upward social and economic mobility in America. And it has been proven that people who have goals written down are much more likely to achieve them.

FOCUS AREAS – CREATING ORDER 

STEP 1: Write Down Your Focus Areas

Here is a list of some areas you may want to focus on. Skip the ones that are not for you and write out each focus area goal.

Branding – Your look and feel your image and health or your pitch and overall messaging.

Marketing – What will you do this year for your marketing plans.

Newsletter -  It’s still the #1 way to make money!  What will you do to create and send yours 12 – 24 times this year & how many people can you add to your e-mail list.

Website  – Building a new one or diversifying your online presence?

Social Networking  – How’s your Facebook Fan Page looking? How many tweets do you send each week?

PR – Getting covered on radio, print, or online.

Booking – Touring or local gigs this year or a combination?

New Music – How much will you release?

Money – How much money you would like to earn?

Film & TV Placements – Will you work towards them this year?

Expanding Your Fan Base – How will you do this?

Team – Will you be trying to get a manager or a booking agent?

Time – How will you manage to balance your time this year to make sure you can focus on your musical goals?

Songwriting – Recording an album or EP this year or just releasing singles as they come?

Instrument – Buying a new instrument or taking lessons?

Personal Health – So your performance is better – exercise, eating  etc.

STEP 2: Write Your Goals Down

•  Write each goal as if it is already happening – use the present tense

• Give dates by when you want to achieve each one

• Your goals should involve you and only you (they can’t be contingent on someone else)

•  Make them so they are realistically achievable

• Start with small goals so I can get them checked off the list and get in momentum fast!

• Make sure they make you FEEL MOTIVATED to complete!  Derek Sivers wrote great commentary on this: http://sivers.org/goals

STEP 3: Look At Them Everyday

I highly recommend writing your goals neatly on paper or creating a vision board that illustrates them. Use colored pens or make a collage that brings them to life and hang them in a place where you can see them everyday.

Keeping them within your sights will keep them in your mind

Carla Lynne Hall at Rockstar Life Lessons has a fabulous guide on how to create a vision board on her blog: http://bit.ly/CarlasVisionBoard

TECHNIQUES FOR ACHIEVING GOALS

1. Start With An Easy Goal And Complete It

One of the main reasons people don’t end up achieving their goals / keeping their new years resolutions is they set themselves up for failure by choosing goals that take a lot of discipline and time to achieve. There is nothing wrong with having big goals however, here’s what I recommend to overcome this issue…

Choose a simple goal and get it achieved within the next two weeks. This will start your momentum and get you feeling like you are in full forward motion.

Think of a small, achievable goal that only takes four to five hours to complete.

Choose something like:

• Organize cluttered studio
• Clean off desk
• Delete unwanted files from computer & emails
• Recycle last years unwanted papers
• Write one new song

Next, set a date when you will get it done by and go for it.

Now that you have achieved a goal within the first two weeks of the new year, the rest of your goal setting will seem a lot easier to accomplish, and you will be able to get things off your plate.

2. Make Lists To Stay On Track 

• Make daily lists of what you need to do to get your goals met – the night before! Do the hardest thing first in the morning – don’t procrastinate.

• Do something everyday that moves you towards the goals

• Delegate the little activities that waste your valuable time to other people (you would be amazed what you could do with 4 hours it takes to clean your house).

• Don’t overload yourself – studies show that 6 tasks is the maximum you can achieve in one day!

3.  Get Help

Build a TEAM to help you!! Get an intern or two – log on to http://www.entertainmentcareers.net and read http://www.internlikearockstar.com/ for inspiration and post as an employer seeking interns – you will be amazed at how many bright young people would like to get their feet wet in the business.

If you are not comfortable with the idea of an intern then ask a friend or a family member to help you.  Schedule just 2 hours a week with that person to attack the goals and get them in motion.

4. Structure Time to Achieve Goals

They won’t happen unless you have time to make sure they do!

Make sure you set aside time and stick to it with pigheaded diligence

5. Remember You Can Change The Goals As You Go

Goals should be looked at as beacons and guiding points for you to keep yourself on track along your journey.  I would not recommend changing them every week but the music industry is changing so rapidly it’s hard to know what goals are reachable in this landscape. So if the course of the year your goals change its OK to cross one off or modify as you go.

6. Write Down 5 Successes Each Day

I’m inviting you to write down five little victories a day for this entire year.

I learned this powerful technique years ago from T. Harv Eker.  Once you start getting into this habit, you are training yourself to put the focus on the positive and get your brain to stop being so critical.

So put a notebook in your gig bag or next to your bed and each day write down 5 things. Make one or two of them music or band related.

Here are some examples:

1. Went to gym.

2. Wrote lyrics for a new song.

3. Called three clubs for potential booking.

4. Did the dishes.

5. Posted a blog.

7. MY FINAL PIECE OF ADVICE – GO EASY ON YOU!

This is a process intended to take a whole year and you will have your days where you may get frustrated, and you will start to beat yourself up (sound familiar?)

Self-criticism will interfere directly with achieving your goals and dreams.  So, the next time you are making yourself wrong, take a step back and instead acknowledge the good, and celebrate your achievements.

Another thing that will stop you is not taking time for YOU so schedule time to reflect and take it all in.  Maybe that’s a walk in the woods, maybe that’s cooking yourself a decadent meal, or maybe it’s spending time with people you love and turning down your power for a few days without the pressure of a holiday or an event….

Here’s to your success in 2012!

PS

WANT A GUIDE TO HELP YOU?

I wrote one

My completely new THIRD edition of Music Success in Nine Weeks is available for presale now! (and it’s $5 less than last year!)

This edition is completely revamped and now includes a full chapter on YouTube as well as new sections on Fan funding, and new blogging techniques.

Each book comes with My Cyber PR® Mastermind Forum –  Get goal support for $27.99 (ebook) $29.99 (physical book)

Many fabulous musicians and I will be there help you along with your goals. 1 Membership comes with each purchase. 

Order now:

http://www.musicsuccessinnineweeks.com/

Related Articles:

• The Musician’s Guide To Affordable Effective Websites
• 12 Ways to Increase Your Fan Base for 2012
• 2012 Social Media & Marketing Predictions From Team Cyber PR®