Ariel Publicity

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.

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In this episode of Sound Advice, Ariel and Carla talk about the basics of Twitter. Part 2 covers the difference between followers and following, hash tags and effective marketing strategies on Twitter.

Click here to order your copy of the new book: http://arielpublicity.com/musiciansroadmap/

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Click here to order your copy of the new book: http://arielpublicity.com/musiciansroadmap/

In this episode of Sound Advice, Ariel and Carla talk about the basics of Twitter. The first of this two part episode covers Twitter handles, @ Replies and Direct Messages.  Come follow us at @CyberPR & @CarlaLynneHall & @MusicSuccessInNine

Check in next time to see the conclusion of Twitter Basics

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I was fortunate to finally meet Ariel Hyatt at the ASCAP Expo a couple of weeks ago, something that I had looked forward to for some time. Ariel is founder of Ariel Publicity, a PR firm that specializes in the music business (especially helping bands) and one of the few centered exclusively on online public relations (she calls it “Cyber PR”).

A few months ago when I began asking around for recommendations for a PR agency for a client of mine, two people who I respect enormously, Derek Sivers (founder of CD Baby) and Bruce Houghton (founder of the influential music blog Hypebot), both told me she was the best in the business. Now that I’ve met her, I totally believe it.

Ariel and I spoke for about 45 minutes about the music business, social networking, and the steps that bands need to take to make their presence felt online. To say that I was impressed is an understatement. She’s one of the few people in the business that totally gets it, but even better, knows how to use what she knows to help those that can’t do it for themselves.

After the conference, I eagerly read Ariel’s book, “Music Success In Nine Weeks,” and totally loved it. It’s loaded with information about navigating the online space, but it’s also a workbook that takes you by the hand and shows you how to do your own PR (both online and traditional), establish and build your email list, get the most out of your website, how to set up a successful blog, and generally focus yourself and your energy to make sure you’re aiming in the right direction to attain your musical goals. It’s very well written and a quick and easy read.

How good is this book? I figured that I would just skim through the book since I already know a good bit about how the social media world works, but I couldn’t put it down and wound up learning a lot myself since the book covers so much more than social media. Her information is concise, to the point, and easy to grasp, no matter if you’re a social media veteran or just dipping your toe into the online waters for the first time.

The title is not hype. If you want music success in a relatively short time, read this book (and read Music 3.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age too). If you don’t have the time or inclination to do it yourself, hire Ariel’s company. At the very least, check out her archive website and sign up for her email newsletter. I guarantee you will learn a lot.

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I just got back from the New Music Seminar in Chicago, where I participated as a player.

The New Music Seminar is an extraordinary and important event.

Why?

Because Tom Silverman gets it.

Tom gets that right now industry vets have gone from being effective experts who understood how to effectively produce hits and make money in the music business are now scratching their heads asking “what do we do now?”

in the worst case scenario, these vets are nothing more than dinosaurs.
In the best case scenario we are architects and builders of the “new” Music Business

We have just started building a huge cathedral with spires, flying buttress, archivolts, trefoils, gables, porches, transepts, cloisters and chapels… It’s a huge job and we are all approaching this together brick-by-brick.

As someone who has toiled for 16 years trying to make a difference for independent artists, it feels incredibly validating to be heard and understood by a legend in the music business.

What Tom is trying to do is crack the code.

His arsenal is all of us, his players, who work day in and day out with artists trying to move the needle, make an impact and create new blueprints that we will all follow for future cathedrals and skyscrapers and eventually powerful towering cities.

Tom, thanks for inviting me.  I’m delighted to be among your troublemakers, rabble rousers and upstarts, I’m in whole hog and I won’t stop until we all make a difference for artists that we serve.

Event Details

• Speaker: Ariel Hyatt
• Date: Monday, July 19, 2010 - Wednesday, July 21, 2010
• City: Ariel Hyatt in New York
• Venue: M2 Ultralounge
• Address: 530 W. 28th St.
• Country: US
• Admission: $200
• Age restrictions: All Ages
• Notes: Ariel will be conducting the first movement of New Music Seminar and hosting the mentoring sessions throughout the days
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

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Ariel & Jody at SXSW

I am thrilled to announce that I will be co-hosting a seminar with the amazing Jody Gnant in Phoenix, AZ.  Jody has an amazing story to tell about how she managed to build an incredible following using social media and video.

What does music have to do with social media and community networking?

How can a songwriter or artist leverage social media for marketing success?

The landscape of the music world is changing. Whether you are writing,
recording, or promoting, the Internet offers the opportunity for
heavy-duty collaboration online. These tools, on their own, are
seemingly insignificant but when used in conjunction with Internet marketing to create your
own cyber-footprint, they have the potential to create great opportunity.

Social Media for Musicians Details:

Sunday January 25, 2009 – 10 AM – 2PM

Perfect Timing Entertainment
617 N. 7th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85006
http://www.perfecttimingentertainment.com

No longer does living outside a major metropolitan area limit your chances of finding an audience that appreciates and supports your talent. Learn how to take this process from your living room to the virtual realm with online collaborating, promotion and live music performance, and how to make a living at the same time.

Jody & I will also cover

How do you get your music played on Podcasts?
Should you have a blog, or a website? Or, both?
How do you stay productive while managing your presence online?
How do you deal with the fact that, once you engage in social media,
all of the feedback might not be positive?
What metrics do you use to gauge the success of your social media commitment?
How much does social media contribute to lead generation vs. revenue
generation?

With media becoming interactive, the next generation of business
community members (and fans) is expecting greater communication and
involvement in the social media landscape through presence, content,
interaction and commitment.  But how can one make a living on the
Internet?

We’ll explore other sources of potential revenue generation:

Revenue generating video players
Ad supported blog networks
Sponsorships and Partnerships
Getting your fans to buy from you many times a year

We’ll discuss how we use the applications and networks we love, how
they help us, and our methods for finding balance online.

Once thing is for certain – the future of music is live, visual,
interactive, and mobile.
Come find out why!

Tickets are $47

About Jody

Jody Gnant is a thought leader in the social media space, who devoted a large portion of her adult life to pushing the boundaries of media. There are very few people out there who can literally say that they have lived social media – but Jody can.

In July of 2007, Jody launched a campaign to promote her album, “Pivot,” that would include a live web stream of her life – 24 hours a day – which would continue for 8 months. The lifecast landed Jody in mainstream media in such outlets as MTV, NPR, LA Times, Sunday Times (UK), India Times, and on the front page of Internet sites such as news.com. Her video, “Over”, reached the #3 slot on MySpace with more than 150,000 views in one week – as a result of the stream. Although she is no longer broadcasting 24/7, Jody still pretty much lives on the Internet and loves to teach people about social media.

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