Ariel Publicity

Hello again and welcome back to Musician’s Arsenal. This week I’d like to present to you, Visibli. A good friend of ours, Jordan Walker (@jordanwalker), came by the Cyber PR® office a few weeks back for some after hours drinks, and as our conversations usually do around here, the talk quickly turned to the music industry, specifically effective technology for independent musicians. In no time Jordan was on the computer showing me all the ins and outs of this great new tool and I’ve been chomping at the bit ever since to write this post.

Visibli, at it’s simplest, is another version of bit.ly. But Visibli takes it to the next level (and can actually work with bit.ly). Imagine a world where every time you posted a link on Twitter or on Facebook, that link carried your brand, linked back to your website, played your music, promoted your social media sites and provided links to buy your music. Enter Visibli.

Visibli does all of these things for you. Just like bit.ly, once you’ve found a link you want to share with your fans, copy that link and paste it into Visibli’s shortener. Visibli can push the link out to your Facebook or Twitter, or you can copy and paste the link where ever you need it. When someone clicks on the link, the website they are taken to will have a banner across the top that can contain all the information I listed before. (Saif Ajani, founder of Visibli, told me that while the Facebook feature is normally a premium feature, he’ll turn it for our readers for free. Thanks Saif! Hit me up @jloom718 and we’ll get you set up.)

I say ‘can’ because this banner is customizable. You have the option of choosing things like a Facebook ‘Like’ button, Twitter ‘Follow’ button, SoundCloud clip, iTunes buy link, Topspin widget, FanBridge widget etc. You can also upload a picture to the banner and customize the font and color of your band name. It’s very cool, click here to see the one I created (in about 10 minutes) for Cyber PR®.

I want to make sure you’re seated now, ‘cause this next part really pushed it over the edge for me. Visibli has a WordPress plugin (they also have code to do this on any website) that allows all of your external links in your blog to carry this banner. Ok, maybe I over did it when I made sure you were seated (but seriously, who reads blogs standing up?) but picture it, every link you put out carrying all of your information. The fan will never forget where the link came from.

But let’s set aside the fact that Visibli is really freakin’ cool technology for a second. How does this help an independent musician, or any musician, brand, company or individual. Let’s say you share a link on Facebook that happens to show up in one of your ambient fan’s news feed. They are interested and click on the link. Without Visibli, they are likely to forget who shared the link and may not engage you further. With Visibli, they are constantly aware of who shared that link with them and are presented with many opportunities to engage you.

Taking this a step further, if a friend shares a link you posted with their community (assuming they don’t change the link) it will still carry your banner and a whole new set of potential fans will have direct access to all of your important links.

Visibli helps take fan engagement to the next level. Providing links to relevant and interesting articles has long been part of the fan engagement strategy. Now this can be done without directing the fan away from your brand. They remain in contact with you the entire time.

It seems I have to say this every time, but alas, I’m leaving out some lovely features I’d like to tell you about, but the best way to learn is to get your hands on it. Go and set up your own Visibli account and come back here and let me know how it goes. Are you able to engage your fans more? Do you see any increase in email sign ups? Is the traffic on your website or social media sites increasing?

Good luck and don’t forget to share you experiences!

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Some of the best tools to promote your music can come (free!) straight from the Internet, however sometimes diving into the world wide web can be scary. What blog site should I use? What do I write about? Is anyone even reading what I’m writing?? No need to fear anymore as Cyber PR teamed up with MicControl’s very own Jonathan Ostrow to create a bi-weekly panel of bloggers that are kind enough to share some valuable insight on the blogosphere, the music industry and more.

Every other week we will address different topics that artists might have in regards to blogging. Picking the brains this week of Jen D. Rafanan from A Million Watts of Sound, Gary Hill from Music Street Journal and Kevin Allen from Song Revelation, they’re here to ease you into the world of blogging as this week’s topic is:

Ways For Musicians To Blog Effectively Without Being Self-Promotional

We encourage any feedback you may have and feel free to ask any questions of your own! What topics do you want see covered in this series? This is all about YOU, the artist, so tell us what you want to know and we’ll find a panel to answer your questions!

Jen                                    Gary                                        Kevin

1. What should musicians write about on their blog?

Jen from A Million Watts of Sound: I am a total behind-the-scenes kinda gal and love stories. Not just the stories told within the songs, but stories about the artists’ life. How they got to where they are. What inspires them. What doesn’t. A funny anecdote from a tour. A cool experience with a fan. Stories connect people. Musicians that write little stories like this on their blog, make me more interested and invested in both them and their music. These are the artists I find myself more drawn to. Whether it’s a story I can relate to or not. As long as it’s from their perspective, the insight into the artist and music is fascinating. Once that connection is made, it’s a pretty solid commitment from me. I make more of an effort to promote that artist however, whenever I can. 2 of the only 3 artists I have supported on www.kickstarter.com for help with an album or tour were CyberPR artists. In a difficult economy, part of what did it for me is the connection I have with them. Though I am fortunate to have gotten to know them through CyberPR, they are artists who definitely share stories and their experiences with their fans. So, yeah…promote your album or latest single, but definitely include STORIES!

Gary from Music Street Journal: The key to writing an effective blog is to make it interesting. For a musician that means, don’t rehash old stuff, but try to throw new angles on old information or put completely new stuff out there. While it’s never a good idea to be intentionally untruthful in a blog (or any promotion) it’s always good to highlight the positive and ignore or at least downplay the negatives. Choose news to publicize carefully. It’s not a good idea to talk about a musician leaving the band until a replacement has been found. Then, focus on showcasing the new person and mention the other person leaving only as means of explanation. And, NEVER trash a former band mate, manager or other person in a public forum.

2. How can artists use a blog to build their mailing list?

Kevin from Song Revelation: Maybe use an autoresponder with a signup form. (Perhaps use this to link to some free music or access to members area after they enter your email). If you’re just starting out & don’t have much buzz I think a better way is to be proactive than expect people to want to sign up to something they know nothing about.

3. Where should artists be promoting their blog?

Kevin: Personalise your approach and get to know people with a similar interest & aspirations to yours. Therefore I suggest maybe actively targeting people that you like and see if you can work together for promotion. I think that if you have great content people will come back for more so in a way viral promotion, by word of mouth (and this is free). Personally, I’m not a huge fan of using paid for site SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) tactics, such as link building & directory submissions when starting out due to the costs involved.  Also, you can’t quantify realistically what you’re getting for your money.  If you’re interested in adopting a holistic approach to search engine optimization perhaps buy a book on the subject to learn what its about.

4. What makes a great blog post?

Gary: The key to a great blog post is revealing information that’s not available elsewhere. In particular, if there are questions that fans keep asking over and over again, writing about them at length in a blog posting is a great idea.

5. How can you make your blog post more searchable?

Jen: Get it auto fed through numerous venues. I like using www.posterous.com (as mentioned in question 2) Use a feature like, addthis to make sharing your posts easy once they are read. The more it is shared, the more your blog will be easy to discover.

Kevin: Don’t use flash on your site. Use simple HTML then everything can be indexed easily by search engines. Also this helps for iPad and iPhone users since they can’t see flash anyway.

6. How often should you update your blog?

Gary: While it might seem like the best idea would be to update a blog frequently, it really doesn’t make sense to post a blog when there’s nothing interesting to write about. If you put out blogs every day, or once or twice a week and many of those blogs contain nothing that people find interesting, they’ll stop reading. The rule of thumb is, only blog when you have something important and interesting (and that means important and interesting to your target audience, not just to you) to say. Don’t waste your time and risk turning readers away by posting trivial stuff that no one wants to read.

7. What are some key rules for blog writing etiquette?

Jen: Be honest. Be genuine. Be original. Above all, just be yourself. Write about things you would maybe like to read about. Spell check is always a good thing. Make sure your links work too.
If your link is really long, use a site like www.bit.ly, shorturl.com or tinyurl.com to customize and shorten it. Much easier on the eyes!

8. How do you get fans to interact with you via your blog?

Jen: While some post comments, most fans of my blog email/message me directly. Whether it’s artists, pr/marketing, fellow bloggers and music lovers, etc. I’ve made some pretty cool friends from the direct contact. I love when I hear from someone who discovered and now follows my blog. I love reading about how they came across it and that they have shared it with others.
Speaking of sharing, there is a feature at the bottom of each blog post that allows the reader to share what they just read, to all the social media venues (fb, twitter, digg, etc.) That comes in handy. I use it a lot when I visit artists’ sites, because it is so convenient in sharings posts in other venues. (http://www.addthis.com/ I briefly mentioned this in question 7.)

Kevin: Comments on your blog posts are always an option but spammers are a problem too. I’d say from personal experience 95%-99% of blog comments are people trying to link build (SEO) as opposed to people genuinely interested in your article. The most important thing is to have a ‘contact me’ page so people can send you a personal message quickly and easily. To engage fans, friends, companies, etc. I like to just email, text and call people directly. Since you’re more often than not discussing an interest you both share, you have a great starting point!

Here are some examples of artists who follow these tips!:

Hotels & Highways

Mixtapes + Meltdowns

Tom Goss

The On Fires

John Brodeur

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“The In-Crowd” is an inside look at crowdfunding, with Ariel Publicity Artist Phil Putnam and RocketHub.com co-founder Brian Meece.  Each Monday, the boys are giving us an honest look at a crowdfunding project in action and dish on how things are going each week.

What is crowdfunding?  Find out here.

What does it look like?  See here.
-  -  -  -  -

WEEK 7:

44 days in, 31 days remaining.  $3,753 raised (38% of the $10,000 goal), $6,247 needed.

Phil Says:

Songs About You is at a point that has felt far off and surreal up until this moment: there’s one month left until the deadline.  This snuck up on me, mostly because I’ve been thinking of the timeline in thirds and I know that the middle third always feels the longest and most difficult.  Well, it was difficult, but it just flew right by and now I’m on the precipice of the last leg of the journey.  I’ll be honest, there is a sense of relief due to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  This experience has worn on me more than I anticipated, in ways I didn’t imagine it would.  The relief isn’t the lone sentiment in my heart, though.  I’m excited by the possibility that this could still work, that all the money could be raised.  It feels like a long shot, but it’s still in the realm of reality.

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69: Tell Them It’s Okay To Share With Creative Commons Licensing

Copyright law is clear: Your songs are yours. But what if you want to tell people it’s okay to share your music, or use it for noncommercial purposes, as long as they attribute you? Enter creativecommons.org, a simple way to license your music to let people know what you want people to do with your music, while keeping the rights that you want to reserve. If you use the creativecommons.org website banners on your own site, your music can come up in searches for Creative Commons material, which can get your music used, and exposure in places you would never have dreamed about.
- Randy Chertkow

The derivative works clause of the Creative Commons license didn’t cost me a bit of time or money and I found niches I never knew about including the World of Warcraft Machinima Music Videos. A video artist named Spiff created 15 videos using my music and there is a huge online community of people who love Machinima videos. Some of them have been viewed millions of times which is VERY good for someone who has a marketing budget of zero dollars… It would never have happened if I had posted warnings about my content
- Jonathan Coulton

70: Get in a Podsafe Collective – Let Podcasters Find You

Podcasts are “the radio of the internet” and they are hungry for new music to play thanks to very strict copyright rules about using major-label music. Consequently, they are always looking for the right songs to play during their podcast, and they turn to podsafe collectives because all of the music on them has been branded safe for them to play. Read the agreements carefully on these websites, and if you’re comfortable with them, post your music. In return for using your songs, they’ll attribute your band, and even link to your website, exposing your music to new potential fans. Examples are http://www.podsafeaudio.com/ and http://www.musicalley.com/
- Randy Chertkow

71: Activision’s “Guitar Hero” Not Calling You For A Synch Deal? Join The New Rock Band Network Yourself!

Rock Band is a multiple player video game. The game licenses music from famous artists (like the Police) and currently you can buy music from many named artists to compete with. The creators of Rock Band are opening up the platform for all musicians to submit songs in the game. Rock Band will sell your tracks for you using their powerful network but you must hire a programmer to program your music to synch with the game. I think the potential is there for an unknown artist to rocket to the top in this whole new median. I wouldn’t be surprised if people start writing songs that go with this game. It’s a brand new opportunity to put your music in a place where it can bounce around and find it’s feet and find your future fans – someone will be getting famous as the first rock band from Rock Band.

Watch the how to video here: http://creators.rockband.com/
- Jonathan Coulton

72: Sponsored streaming single or album release through Reverb Nation, Pandora, imeem, Rhapsody

All of these media companies connect music with advertising on the vast platform of the Internet, which can help you, get maximum (and track able) exposure to your music. This is your Johnny Carson. This is your Oprah. If you get this, you will be exposed to over 40 million potential new & genuine music fans with high consumption rates on the web. All three companies have engaged in advertising programs which package a new release in a stream surrounded by an advertisement. Read about Reverb Nation’s DIY Song Sponsorships here, or Pandora’s sponsored album releases here. Tip: all of these companies are engaging or about to engage in sponsored video streams. Prepare now. Get your videos together now. Watch their video series. Rhapsody has been promoting independent live shows for 3 years, with its Rhapsody Rocks series. Big Light was featured in Rhapsody Rocks San Francisco where every band was paid appropriately and then featured on a Rhapsody Rocks play list. Remember, these placements are just another 15 minutes if you don’t make a connection with every single person who connects with you about their experience with your music. Know who is listening and thank them. Tip: You are not ready to begin pitching for this until you have 1000 true fans on Facebook and/ or Twitter (or whichever network you use).
- Corey Denis

73: You Say Rolling Stone, I say Hot Lips: Get a Live Show Review on Jambase, Appear on Jambase TV, Perform In Their Office For Jambase Live

Jambase has become the source for Live Music exposure online. Recently, artists Big Light & Nathan Moore teamed up for Jambase Live & the crowd went wild. Jambase is not just a source for how to see live music – more than a 50,000,000 music lovers participate in the Jambase community, with massive syndication generating 750,000 unique visits every month. Think it’s just for Jam Bands? You’re wrong. It’s not. Read that sentence again, please. Jambase has the most accurate show listings online, for more than 50,000 artists across 50 genres, performing in 50,000 venues worldwide. Jambase is headquartered in San Francisco and has been around for 10 years. Go say hi now.

http://www.jambase.com.
- Corey Denis

74: Spin Magazine Doesn’t Exist: Album review on Stereogum (buzznet), My Old Kentucky Blog, Largehearted Boy, Gorilla Vs Bear

Tip: first read these blogs and determine if your music is appropriate, and contact bloggers in accordance with a planned digital strategy. Pork is the other white meat, and these top music blogs are the other Spin Magazine. A review on any of these music review blogs will get you exposure to at least 10,000 true genuine music lovers. Blogs are also now participating in the presentation of events ranging from local to major showcases at SXSW. Wendy Darling hopped on a My Old Kentucky Blog concert. Tip: Time your solicitations appropriately, read the blog for at least 3 months before you submit or ask for their attention. Know the writers, respect the blogosphere, and communicate with them via their blog. All three bloggers above have been writing about music online for 6 years. They have specific taste and did not do this for the money. Tip: do not spam. Ever.
- Corey Denis

75: Video / Music Video Feature on Current TV

Rotary Downs was featured on Current TV and the band is still receiving feedback via comments on the video, which was syndicated across the web. In addition, Current TV recommends “like music” to appropriate fans, so Rotary Downs enjoyed the benefit of entering the Current TV recommendation realm. Also, how can you deny the awesomeness of Al Gore? Pay attention to all the music contributors and if you think you fall into the category of something they may feature and go for this if you know you have at least 500 true fans who will enjoy it. Tell them when it airs and encourage them to share the video with the embed code. When you acquire new fans, make sure they know where to find your music and how to connect with you. Return the connection favor. Rotary Downs enjoyed a 40% increase in digital sales as a result of their feature on Current TV. Tip: remember, Current TV also airs on cable. www.currenttv.com
- Corey Denis

76: Premiere Your Music Video on Singing Fool

Signing Fool offers exclusive music video premiere offers for professionally made music videos. The videos are then premiered on top sites such as, billboard.com, Allmusic, Windows Media, Friendster, and many more. Contact them and ask if they will consider your video for a premiere. www.singingfool.com
- Christina Duren

77: Feature on Indiefeed Podcast: A Single Serving Podcast

With single servings (one track at a time) this is the ultimate way to expose your single to a passionate group of music listeners. Indiefieed is the number one music podcast on iTunes. I have placed at least 30 tracks with Indiefeed, and as a result every track was exposed to over 1 million Nielson Certified listeners. Indiefeed likes to post your promotional mp3, and links to your website in the show notes available at Indiefeed.com, which has lead to at least 1000 dedicated-fan downloads and a minimum of 20% traffic increase with every feature I have placed. Tip: Time this appropriately with your strategy, and give Indiefeed an exclusive if you can. Start listening to the show immediately, and follow the contact information provided for submissions. www.indiefeed.com
- Corey Denis

78: Record a Cover For Coverville – One of iTunes’s Highest Rated Podcasts

I love Coverville – it’s a great podcast b/c it’s bands covering other bands and it has a devoted listener base. Brian (Coverville’s host and producer) has been very kind to me and helped me promote my cover of “Baby Got Back.” This is the kind of track that would never fly on radio…..
- Jonathan Coulton

I was a fan of Coverville, one of iTunes’s highest rated podcasts. When I submitted our version of “Mad About You,” I referenced other bands who had placed rougher, minor chord arrangements to sugary pop-songs; also noting this arrangement was in the minority of his submissions. A lot of what Brian gets seemed to be slower acoustic versions of popular songs, so I knew ours stood out. I think we formed a relationship because he sensed I knew a little about his job, and noted how my song would complement his programming. Ultimately, he featured our song as the title track in one of his podcasts. When the video was made, I thought, “Brian might like this” and brought it to his attention, he posted it on Coverville’s front page. We got tons of You Tube hits from his placement of that video on his site, which doubled the exposure “Mad About You” had gotten from the original podcast www.coverville.com
- Derek Nicoletto

79: Accident Hash Podcast: A Podcast Hosted By A Social Media Icon

C.C. Chapman hosts one of the longest running independent music podcasts. Accident Hash receives several thousand listeners each month. An added bonus is C.C. is well know in the Social Media world and he has over 17,000 followers on Twitter (so if you connect with him there you will be sure to find some new online fans, and friends.

Genres: Assorted (almost all) www.accidenthash.com
- Ariel Hyatt

80: The Chillcast: The Largest Podcast For Chillout & Electronica

The Chillcast is a weekly music podcast featuring. Hand picked podsafe music hosted by Anji Bee, vocalist of Lovespirals. Anji Bee is a Southern California vocalist, lyricist, podcaster and vidcaster. She is one half of the indie band, Lovespirals. Anji’s podcast gets tens of thousands of downloads per show and Anji is always looking to discover great new artists in the genres listed.

Genres: Chillout, electronica, worldbeat, soul, and jazz.www.thechillcast.com
- Ariel Hyatt

81: The Mothpod Podcast: Featuring Emerging Artists

It was on that day that Internet DJ Zack “The Mothman” Daggy formed The Mothpod. Featuring bands and artists from both near and far, established and emerging, signed and unsigned; The Mothpod presents only he best and brightest talent that the music industry has to offer. New episodes are available for download every Monday. Also check back for Music Video Wednesdays, Artist Spotlight Fridays, and Moth Pick of the Week Sundays.

http://www.mothpodproductions.com
- Ariel Hyatt

82: Discover Overplay: UK based Indie Website

When I posted on Overplay, I got international perspective on my music, I won their Play & Rate Competition and I got offered a distribution deal for my upcoming indie release as well as a recording contract for future albums by UK based record label, Maddie Records www.overplay.co.uk
- Jennie Walker

83: Go To Australia: Use WhoTune

Post music on WhoTune indie band site out of Perth Australia and get to

know the Managing Director, Karl George.I submitted my song “Night Flight to London” and it was featured in “You Gotta Hear” listing, rose to #1 on Top 20 song list. As a result, I was asked to create radio promo spots, participate in interview and also serve as a DJ for the station and music is now used on their Internet radio station and for promos in their business development activities. http://www.whotune.com
- Jennie Walker

84: Get A “Take Five” Feature Interview on All About Jazz , one of the largest Jazz Portals Online

If you are a jazz musician looking to get some extra exposure look to All About Jazz. They have a free way for you to further raise the awareness of your music and yourself if you would like to be featured on this wonderful site it’s very easy. Just logon and fill out their online questionnaire and get instant content to add to your press kit/ Sonic Bids profile. All About Jazz will promote your Take Five questions and answers on the AAJ home page and link to it from your AAJ musician profile.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/submit_take_five.php
- Ariel Hyatt

85: Join the Remix Culture at CCMixter

Letting people remix your songs is an exciting way to get exposure for your music. Go to sites like ccmixter.org, put up your tracks, and see where your music can go. The tracks will be released under Creative Commons licenses, which allow people to remix your music, although you’ll keep the original rights, and they’ll have to attribute if they use your music. Some bands have been so successful at this that they released entire albums of remixes of their music. And the remixers of course promoted it to their fans.
- Randy Chertkow

86: Twitter Karma: Piggyback Off Similar Bands on Twitter to Grow Followers

When you target new people to follow, it is always wise to make sure they already like your genre of music. If you somewhat sound like Radiohead, wouldn’t it make sense to target the followers of their various Twitter profiles? For the people who do not follow you back, check out Twitter Karma. It allows you to ‘bulk unfollow’ anyone who has not followed you back; it’s a great tool for Twitter maintenance.

http://dossy.org/twitter/karma/
- Chris Gesualdi

87: Use Indieguide to Find What You Need

Keeping track of all of these sites, tools, and resources seems like a full time job. Fortunately, IndieGuide.com does exactly that by organizing all of the links into easy-to-use categories. You can read the blog (blog.indieguide.com) to see suggestions for resources and tools, or use IndieGuide.com to locate the website you need, whether it’s print-on-demand CD stores, copyright resources, merchandise manufacturers, or places to get your music played, this is a site worth exploring.
- Randy Chertkow

88: Forget iTunes Features

I used to work for Apple on the corporate level, so I’m an informed source on this one. Truly, stop wasting time trying to get featured on iTunes, and don’t believe distributors who say they will get you featured. Here’s why: iTunes features two kinds of music. Music that will sell like mad (Madonna, Taylor Swift, NOT unknown indie artists), and music that is catching the ear of the staff, whether it’s popular or not. It is one of the only music stores around that truly lets the staff select taste-based features, but there are millions of us and a very, very few of them, so unless your dad or wife or the person you donated a kidney to is an iTunes content producer, getting picked for a feature runs the same odds as winning the lottery. Best approach is to pray your song catches their ear and go spend your time on a task that can offer some return.
- Phil Putnam

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89: Consider Fan Financed Recordings/Projects

As the fan base grows, so does their desire to see an artist succeed. Last year, Shane wanted to record and went out to the fans for support. See www.teamtrance.com. This effort raised just over $34,000 in just 60 days.
- Michele Samuel

90: Start Your Own Subscription Service

In October of 2008 I started my own subscription service- www.matthewebel.net -with no clue whether the fans would like it or not. Part of the offerings were two new songs and one live concert recording every month. It seemed like a tall order to me, but something I could accomplish. Little did I realize that new releases every two weeks would be better than any good album reviews or press coverage. Giving my fans something new to talk about every two weeks meant exactly that: they talk about me every two weeks. They’re not buying an album, raving about it, and losing interest after a few months, they’re constantly spreading my name to their Twitter followers, coworkers, pets, etc. Regular delivery of quality material is damn near my one-step panacea for the whole industry.
- Matthew Ebel

91: Legally Record & Sell Cover Tunes

Singer/songwriter Steve Acho realized that fans who love a particular song will often collect other versions of the favorites. After getting the proper publishing licenses, he would record new arrangements of songs popular by various artists, and release them on iTunes via TuneCore. When a song-collecting fan enjoyed one of his tunes, they would often also buy his originals.
- Carla Lynne Hall

92: TV/Film/Game Licensing – aka SYNCH Licensing

The Billboard Maximum 100 article was ba-na-nas off base overall, but they were on the right track with Synch Licensing. If you own the copyrights of your music (if you don’t, you’re a complete moron, leave the music business now) placements of your music in TV/Film/Games is a vital part of your long-term financial success. There are about 900,000 shows besides Grey’s Anatomy and Gossip Girl that need music, and there’s no reason why your music can’t be the right pick. As you dive into these waters, remember two things: THEY need YOU, and a Music Supervisor needs the right song for their show more than they need a household name singing it.|
- Phil Putnam

93: Sign With More Than One Licensing Agency

Licensing Agencies have relationships with TV/Film production companies and work to get their clients’ music placed in TV shows and films. The beauty of this is that a contract with a Licensing Agency is non-exclusive, according to current industry standard. That means you can sign with a few agencies and have them all working to place your music. It may add some more work for you on the admin side, but can payoff on the paycheck side. Note, however, that standard cut for the Licensing Agency is 50%, so if you can get placements without them, do it. And never sign an exclusive Licensing contract.
- Phil Putnam

94: Create iMixes at iTunes & Sell More Music

With artists that compliment your music and artists you get compared to. Add in some top sellers as well to ensure popular music buying choices are in your iMix. The key here is: include your music. This will be putting you exactly where you want to be: in harm’s way! Online where people have their credit cards out and are ready to buy music.

http://www.tinyurl..com/arielitunes
- Ariel Hyatt

Jazz guitarist Cameron Mizell developed a technique of creating iTunes iMixes that featured one song of his among other songs in his genre. iMix lovers would discover his tunes, and buy them as well.
- Carla Lynne Hall

95: Make Merchandise for $0

Sell merch for free, and make money on every sale

With sites like Cafepress.com, Spreadshirt.com, and Zazzle.com, you can upload pictures that can be printed on all sorts of merch. The stores are available for free, and you’ll make money each time a fan makes a purchase. You can use sites like this to find out what designs are the most popular in case you want to do a mass printing to have an inventory of your own to bring to shows.
- Randy Chertkow

96: Let Fans Pay What They Want

Stop setting prices at shows for your merch, unless you already have a huge ‘brand’. Most fans are either buying memorabilia from the event to mark that they were there, or they are donating to support the band. Don’t put a price ceiling on them by limiting them. Let them pay what they want for that t-shirt and you will be rewarded with more money.
- Jed Carlson

97: Learn Tom Jackson’s Live Music Methods & Sell More Merch

Just like you learned how to play and sing, there are techniques and tools/ gear, theories, and concepts that make a great performer. I’ve seen Tom in action and I have interviewed artists who are making more money from merch sales at live shows directly by implementing Tom’s teachings. Everyone is scratching their heads trying to figure out what will make them money and Tom Jackson will make you more money. www.onstagesuccess.com
- Ariel Hyatt

98: Keep Detailed Financial Records

If you aren’t keeping stock of what expenditures got you a worthwhile return you will run out of money even quicker than most.
- Rick Goetz

99: Invest in Your Own Career to The Best of Your Ability

You need to spend a certain amount of money to appear professional so while bartering is encouraged if you have big gaping holes in your marketing material or image – spend the money on yourself. Be it a professional website, a well written bio, professional sounding recordings, quality press photos etc.
- Rick Goetz

100: Be Like Amanda Palmer: Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Money

Singer/songwriter Amanda Palmer had a major deal that was doing nothing for her, so she took matters into her own fans. By announcing impromptu all ages shows on Twitter, she found that her fans were willing to come out on short notice to hear her play, buy her CDs, and eat cake. She then began whipping her 30K+ twitter followers, aka “the losers of friday night on their computers” into a frenzy. She created a hand-designed t-shirt in real-time which made $11,000.00 in a matter of days. She followed that up with a webcast auction, and a twitter donation-only gig, which brought her month’s income to $19,000.00

Amanda wrote an inspiring blog post about this topic here: http://tinyurl.com/amandapalmermoney
- Carla Lynne Hall

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This is the final segment of a 3 part series that was inspired by a mastermind program I am participating in with Ali Brown who is my mentor in the world of online marketing.

Here’s the recap:
There are three ways to increase your income:

1. Increase your number of clients (fans).

2. Increase the frequency of purchase, how often your fans buy from you. (and you’d better have more than just music to sell).

3. Increase the amount of money that you charge.

Increasing the amount of money you charge poses a problem if all you have to sell is music because music is now widely available for free, and people have proven that they are not willing to pay a premium for music.

However, fans will pay plenty of money for experiences, like a great concert or a chance to be a contribution to an artist, a special memento, or wonderful merchandise that really resonates with your fans.

I found two artists that exemplified this strategy – Jeff Krantz who created a BIG payday in one fell swoop and Phil Putnam who has been slowly increasing his bottom line over time.

Jeff Krantz & The $10,000 Song
http://jeffkrantzmusic.com

Just last night I was hanging out with past Cyber PR client who had a fabulous tale to tell. Jeff launched his singer-songwriter career in Second Life where he has managed to build a wonderful fan base.

Through networking online, he met a man who fell in love with his songwriting and became a fan. This man called up my artist and told him that he was having a big anniversary coming up and he wanted a special song written just for his wife. He asked if he would be up for writing and recording a custom song for her.

Realizing that this was a huge opportunity told his fan that he would present him with some options he began to THINK BIG. So he created 3 packages that this man could choose from with three separate prices (depending on how much he wanted to spend / how involved it would be silver, gold and platinum)

Here’s what Jeff wrote about how it worked:

As part of the Gold package that the client chose, I agreed to write  3 different songs (first verse and chorus) for the client to chose from. Once the client selected the song, Ispent 1 week writing 2 full lyrical options for the client to chose from. Once they had decided on the song, Jeff went into his studio and recorded the song, bringing in musicians to fill out the arrangement. He then sent it to a top studio to be mixed and mastered and 2 weeks later he sent the client the finished song (with the masters). “It took about 60 hours in total but it was so much fun and I made almost 10 grand for the effort!”

The point is because he leveraged just ONE relationship with just one fan he managed to make over $10,000 on ONE song.

Had he not been working on increasing his fanbase by networking online, he never would have had this opportunity present itself to him.

Phil Putnam – How To Slowly Increase Your Value
http://www.philputnam.com

Phil (full disclosure: Phil is a Cyber PR client) wrote back with what he did to increase his prices and overall bottom line.

Yes, I have taken a few steps to increase the amounts I can pull in.

1)  The lion’s share of my new price leverage has come from having a very successful music video on MTV/LOGO.  When you get wide exposure like that, people will pay more to hear/see you.

2)  Make longer albums: my latest record “Casualties” has 16 tracks on it, price point at $11.99 on iTunes rather than $9.99, and it sells better than any of my other records.

3)  Raise my concert ticket price/door charge $2-3.  Ex: from $10 to $12 advance/$15 at door.  I’ve seen an increase in my concert attendance since raising the price, and I also book higher quality venues.

In general, I find that being able to raise your price point is a result of two things:

1) Adjusting the perceived value of your work among your listeners.  We set the pace for how people perceive us.  If we say our show is worth $12 instead of $10, people will pay $12.  And then it becomes our job to give them a better show.

2) Working harder to make better music, give better shows, and build better contacts.  It’s simple business: you want better pay, do better work.  Raising price point isn’t a marketing trick.  You have to earn it.

What I like about what Phil did is he increased his momentum at the same time he increased his prices. I’m quite sure that the $2 – $3 he increased his prices by add up to be significant gains over the course of a year or two. Thanks Phil!

But again back to basic principle #1 which Phil leverages excellently: The amount of fans you have, the true fans who are connected and engaged will be the ones who can lead you to bigger opportunities down the line.

Those fans are the ones who will want to engage with you in an authentic way, and purchase whatever it is you are offering even if it costs a few dollars more or give you more than you ever expected because you provide deep value really says something.

I would love to hear how you have managed to add value and get more profit.

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