Ariel Publicity

Part 2: Your Three Communities – Community 2 – Engaged Fans

Last week I started my 3-part series called Your Three Communities and we started diving into how to connect with your superfans by making your live show as good as it can be. This week I will focus on how to energize and connect with Community 2 – Engaged Fans. These fans are your Active Online Audience. They are newsletter subscribers, blog readers, video watchers, RSS subscribers, active Social Media engagers who frequently comment & engage with you on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites you may be using. They’re engaged with you in what the New York Times brilliantly referred to as “ambient awareness.”  They know who you are but they may not know you very well (yet).  With this community, as with all three, engagement is critical, but here it will be different. In Community 2 contribution is critical but engagement is even more vital.

Brian Solis, the author of “Engage” and the co-author of “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations” has recently written a brilliant blog post on the reasons why creating content is a necessity in today’s social media landscape and it speaks DIRECTLY to your already engaged fans.

The Future of Marketing Starts with Publishing

http://www.briansolis.com/2010/04/the-future-of-marketing-starts-with-publishing-part-1/

This article is written for businesses and I have said this many times before: Your music is your business so it wont take much reading between the lines to decipher a plan for yourself in this domain.

Here are the two most amazing morsels:

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I’m just back from an amazing trip to Los Angeles where I attended and spoke at the ASCAP Expo. I also hosted a networking mixer at the house for 50 musicians from my community in Brooklyn and so I have been thinking a lot about community lately, and I have some thoughts:

Every artist has three separate communities.

Community #1: Your Super Fans

These are fans who are primarily Your Live Audience. You know them by name. If you play out live, they attend your shows regularly, and buy many things you offer (not just music). If you have a street team they are on it and they evangelize strongly on your behalf.

Community #2: Engaged Fans

These fans are your Active Online Audience. They are newsletter subscribers, blog readers, video watchers, RSS subscribers, active Social Media engagers who frequently comment & engage with you on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Community #3: Ambient Fans

These fans are your Passive Online Audience and they are your social media friends who are aware of you via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Last.fm, etc. but don’t actively communicate with you and may not have ever even heard your music (yet).

There are many different communities to tack on to this list but these are the primary three.

The problem is most artists have only one strategy for marketing and promoting to three totally separate groups.

The way you maintain your relationship with each of these communities requires a different strategy because you have varying degrees of engagement with each of them.

The way you create and develop your relationship with them should also take some careful consideration.

Yes, there will be overlap between them but not as much as you may think.

This article is broken up into three parts, one for each community.

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38: Learn How to Rehearse

You know the rules to get a song on radio intro/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ bridge/ chorus, 3 1/2 minutes long, etc. But live those rules change…it’s a different medium. You need to find the moments in the songs and develop them during a rehearsal. Rehearsals are a great place to take chances and be spontaneous.
- Tom Jackson

39: Play Shows Locally & Frequently First

I differentiate this from TOUR (which is what is the ultimate plan). The idea is build a HEADLINING (with smart opening slots also) following in each city which will show that you can sell tickets, give you the opportunity to become excellent at ENTERTAINING your audience, pay for the expansion into neighboring regions and to have some proof of your value for fickle promoters/ club owners and ultimately a booking agent (you should NOT plan on having success finding an agent until you can sell 250+ tickets locally). Play shows locally (all the towns within a 3 hour drive) frequently (but no more than 10-15 shows/year until you are selling approx 250-400 headlining tickets, then phase down to 3-4 times per year as you sell 400-1000 headlining tickets). Once you are selling 250 +/- tickets (more if you are a larger band with higher touring costs) expand regionally, then multiple regions until you can cover the whole country and ultimately other countries. Getting to a modest National stature (500-1000 tickets across the country) should take 4-7 YEARS of VERY hard work! Oh, and be professional: Advance the show, promote your own shows (digitally and physically) wherever possible, show up on time, and be NICE to everyone (no attitude when problems occur, and they WILL), respect the venue, make friends with all other bands on the bill, etc. Booking yourself WILL be frustrating. Be pleasantly persistent. Ask to play appropriate sized rooms and nights.
- Rob Gordon

40: Get Fan Generated Bookings

A Corey Smith’s email/text list grows, we have been reaching out to fans to generate bookings. This has generated both college shows and club shows. Fans are even starting Facebook groups to prove that they can get fans to the shows and then are working with us to book them. We would have never thought Shane Hines could get 50+ people out and now will be headed to Morehead to do just that. This group was started by a fan that saw him open for Corey Smith. We kept in touch with them via the mobile text program.

See http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155044073320&ref=search&sid=1464974436.302266636..1
- Michele Samuel

41: Use Eventful.com

Eventful is very powerful. The first time I knew I was going to be in Seattle I sent a message to 75 people who demanded me on Eventful and w/in 24 hours I had a show set up at a venue that held 75 people. That show sold out. This made me realize you can tour in an efficient way instead of driving up and down the east coast to cities where people don’t know you. It’s much better to wait till people know who you are and you know they want you there.
– Jonathan Coulton

42: Play Gigs Where No One Else Plays Gigs

You won’t be making money in the beginning anyway so play in weird places that will get people talking (even if you get arrested). Getting arrested is great for your credibility and will make everyone talk about you and make everyone but the status quo like you.
- Tom Silverman

43: Prove To Each Venue That You’re Going To Promote

Conquer Social Media Before You Book Shows by setting up MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and make sure your music/email list is on it. You as the artist are the voice behind those pages, but don’t spend more than 2 hours a day on it. Make sure all of the above is in place before you book shows. Once a Show is Booked, Promote it! Otherwise no one will turn up and you may not get another gig. Ask the venue if fliers work well in their market and ask for a local media/radio list you can send the show to. Offer fans guest list in exchange for postering around town and sending in photos of their work.
- Emily White

Amber Rubarth would call each venue and ask them how she could help promote her show. She would then do everything that they requested and stay in touch with them to let them know that she was working hard to promote her own show and she fostered relationships with the venue owners and bookers while she worked for her own promotional benefit.
- Derek Sivers

44: 3 Critical Things To Bring To Every Show…

1. Make sure you have a physical piece of music to sell at shows
2. Additional merch
3. Have an email list sign up form
- Emily White

45: Gig Swap

Network with other bands in person and online to set up gig swaps with other artists to play in other cities. You host them when they come to your town and they in turn host you.
- Emily White

We are strong in some areas and other bands are strong in different areas. So, we often trade shows so that bands open each other shows and build tours around them to tap into multiple fan bases.
- Michele Samuel

46: Stay With Friends

Stay with friends on the road to save money. Be considerate – walk their dogs in the morning or cook them breakfast…. You will probably be invited back!
- Emily White

47: At Live Shows Employ Mobile Text Short Codes, Mobile Phones or Google Voice

Walking around with an email list requires manpower, time and generally does not get a great result. But, if you could have the fans text you during your performance and stay in touch with them that way. We use a short code and have the fans text to it during the performance. When they text they receive a link to download free tracks. We capture their text number and then keep in contact and get permission to continue a relationship with them after the show. The return has been a minimum of 25% of the audience.
- Michele Samuel

Offer up a Google Voice number from stage where folks can text in their email address. Or a mobile # where people can text their phone numbers straight to you. Next time you play in that area you already have a built in text-messaging list.
- Emily White

48: Create Moments, Capture And Engage Audiences, Don’t Just Sing And Play Songs

Your audience wants to feel something, not hear something. When people are moved, they remember and want to buy those moments to take home and relive. It’s about how you and your music affect people. Give your audience something to think about. The audience wants to forget about themselves. There are onstage skills, tools, and techniques to win an audience, and to keep them captured and engaged and wanting more. It’s all about an emotional connection with people!
- Tom Jackson

49: Exceed Your Audience’s Expectations Without Changing Who You Are

Like a great restaurant, your customers (audiences) have expectations. If a restaurant doesn’t figure out what the customers want, the restaurant will go out of business,
- Tom Jackson

50: Your Songs Don’t Sound the Same…They Shouldn’t Look the Same

An artist wouldn’t even think of using the same lyrics, rhythms, or tones for every song. Yet artists have a tendency to do the same thing visually for every song. Big mistake! 55% of communication is what the audience sees with their eyes. To the audience, if the songs look the same then they start sounding the same. If this is what’s happening, whether you realize it or not, you’re not getting the most out of your show.
- Tom Jackson

51: Know Your Role in the Band Onstage

Know what your audience expects. Players on a great football team need to know their roles in order to be successful. It’s the same with a great band. A great quarterback/front man is a leader. The wide receiver/ lead guitarist knows he’s supposed to deliver the touchdown. The lineman/ drummer holds down the fort. There are specific skills and roles for each person to know and work on in order to be great as a group onstage and win the audience.
- Tom Jackson

52: Meet & Greet: And Sign Autographs Till There Is No One Left Waiting

Sign and hang out and engage with folks post-show. Stay at the merch table till you have met every single person that wants to meet you and sign merch. That personal touch will be long remembered after you leave and those fans will bring their friends the next time you come through town.
- Emily White

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Bob Baker is an author, indie musician and former music magazine editor dedicated to showing musicians of all kinds how to get exposure, connect with fans, sell more music, and make more money. He is a touring speaker and the author of The Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook, MySpace Music Marketing, and Unleash the Artist Within.
www.bob-baker.com/

Jed Carlson is Co-Founder and COO of ReverbNation, a company that provides Music 2.0 marketing technology to Artists, Labels, Managers, and Venues. He holds degrees in economics and environmental studies from Bowdoin College, and an MBA from Duke University. Past ventures include The Carlson Print Group, a commercial printing and packaging company, and SmartPrint, a division of CD manufacturer AmericDisc Inc, that enabled “on-demand” CD manufacturing for indie record labels.
www.ReverbNation.com

Randy Chertkow & Jason Feehan are the authors of The Indie Band Survival Guide: The Complete Manual For The Do-It-Yourself Musician and The DIY Music Manual: How To Record, Promote and Distribute Your Music Without A Record Deal . They’re also founders of the free and open musician resource, IndieGuide.
www.indieguide.com

Corey Denis has been pioneering digital music marketing for 10 years using everything from ListServs & forums to social networks and MMORPGs. She got her music industry start at What Are Records? where her future thinking & innovative online marketing increased sales and broadened fanbases for Frank Black, Stephen Lynch, Maceo Parker, The Samples, & more. She moved to San Francisco in 2005 to work at IODA where she helped create and market Promonet, before leading the marketing efforts as VP of Marketing at digital distributor reapandsow. Her current consulting clients include SonicLiving, and Opus Music Ventures among others.

http://notshocking.com/?page_id=5

Christina Duren is the PR Director for Ariel Publicity’s Cyber PR Campaigns and co-founder of Cyber PR Urban (the urban division of the company). She started her music career as an intern at Island Def Jam where she spent a year in the Radio and Promotions/ Publicity department working with with Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Ne-Yo. From there she took her first real job at Shore Fire Media working campaigns for The Roots, and Heineken Red Star Soul Tour.
www.cyberprurban.com

Christopher Gesualdi is the Marketing Director at Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR a New York based digital firm that connects artists, authors and filmmakers to blogs, podcasts, Internet radio stations and Social Media sites. His focus is on Social Media strategy and Marketing plan implementation for all Cyber PR Campaign clients.
www.cyberprmusic.com

Rick Goetz is an entertainment professional with deep roots in the music industry. He has been an A&R representative at major labels like Atlantic and Elektra, a music supervisor for independent films and national TV campaigns and has played bass for Grammy award winning musicians. He is currently a music consultant and musician coach and can be found at www.musiciancoaching.com

Rob Gordon As Director of A&R at EMI, Rob brought the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queensryche to international stardom. In 1991 Rob founded W.A.R.? – What Are Records? which has released over 140 albums since, including Stephen Lynch, Jonathan Coulton, The Samples, Frank Black, Maceo Parker, David Wilcox, Tim Finn, Sally Taylor, The Ocean Blue, and Glenn Tilbrook. W.A.R.? led marketing for the HORDE tour 1993-1995. In 2007 Rob founded United Interests to round out W.A.R.?’s Career Development team. Rob consults and speaks worldwide on topics ranging from Music to alternative energy to complementary currencies to sustainable city building.
www.whatarerecords.com

Ariel Hyatt is the founder of Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR a New York based digital firm that connects artists, authors and filmmakers to blogs, podcasts, Internet radio stations and social media sites. Educating musicians is her passion and her philosophy is: combine social media with Internet marketing to help artists grow their fanbases and increase their income. This is the subject of her book: Music Success in Nine Weeks which has helped hundreds of musicians navigate the Social Media landscape and it is available at Amazon. She is a proud contributor to Music Think Tank.
www.arielpublicity.com

Tom Jackson is the #1 Live Music Producer in the industry. When recording, you need a record producer. But with your live show, you need a Live Music Producer to make it the best it can be! Tom has developed the Live Music Method, an onstage method that makes your live show engaging and memorable, exceeding audiences’ expectations, creating fans for life.
www.onstagesuccess.com

Erik Philbrook is AVP of Marketing Media for ASCAP and serves as Editor in Chief of Playback, the Society’s magazine, in addition to creating audio/ video, editorial and other content for ASCAP’s website, social media channels and the ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO. He is also a songwriter and bassist for the indie roots rock band The Brilliant Mistakes.
www.thebrilliantmistakes.com/

Lou Plaia – After 15+ years at Atlantic and Lava Records, Lou decided to start a new style of music marketing company which required an odd blend of music expertise and technology. ReverbNation launched on October 31, 2006. And it now serves 475,000+ Artists, Labels, Managers, Venues/Promoters and other Music Industry Pros with a complete solution for fan management, promotion, distribution, direct-to-fan commerce, and analytics. ReverbNation’s mission is to uncover value for the musician. In addition to providing core business services, we seek to create new revenue streams for its users.
www.ReverbNation.com

Michele Samuel is the principal of Beautiful Day Entertainment and works alongside artists building foundations to create artist to fan relationships for a long term career path. Methods have included fan financed music production, touring and promotion, mobile text list building, and fan generated bookings. Her clients include Shane Hines and Corey Smith.
www.facebook.com/michelesamuel

Tom Silverman is the founder, chairman and CEO of the record label Tommy Boy Records. He also co-founded and co-organizes the New Music Seminar, which ran from 1980 to 1995 and which he relaunched in 2009 as a more frequent, touring event. Mr. Silverman serves on the boards of RIAA, SoundExchange, the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM and its predecessors NAIRD/AFIM), and Merlin Network. He previously served on the boards of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Dance Music Hall of Fame, plus the NARM Manufacturer’s Advisory Board. Silverman received the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Heroes Award in 2000.
www.newmusicseminar.biz

Derek Sivers is best known as the founder of CD Baby. After he won the 2003 World Technology Award, Esquire Magazine’s annual “Best and Brightest” cover story said, “Derek Sivers is changing the way music is bought and sold… one of the last music-business folk heroes.” In 2008, Derek sold CD Baby to focus on his new ventures to benefit musicians. His current projects and writings are all at http://sivers.org

Emily White is a principal at Whitesmith Entertainment, a full-service talent management firm based in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston spanning the music, comedy, film, and TV industries. They work with artists who have a unique voice, style and meaning to their fans. Whitesmith balances a youthful edge while maintaining a deep knowledge within the fields of touring, merchandising, online marketing, social networking, branding, sponsorship, as well as physical and non-traditional content releases.
www.whitesmithentertainment.com

MUSICIANS

Jonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, famous for his songs containing themes of geek culture as well as his rise to popularity through the use of the Internet. Coulton’s best known works include his light-acoustic cover of the Sir Mix-a-Lot hit song “Baby Got Back” and original pieces such as “Still Alive”, the theme song for the video game Portal, and “Code Monkey”, which has been featured on Slashdot. (From Wikipedia)

http://www.jonathancoulton.com

Matthew Ebel is a piano rocker who’s been called a pioneer and a leader in independent music. Growing up in Washington State, he began playing piano and singing at age 5. Since then he’s released multiple albums, backed up major-label stars in Nashville, and launched his own subscription site using cutting-edge technology.
www.matthewebel.net

Carla Lynne Hall is a musician and music marketing consultant based in New York City. Her latest CD SUPERNOVA has been described as “Norah Jones meets Sade for tea on the their way to visit The Beatles.” In addition to releasing three CDs on her own label, she has also spent a number of years behind the scenes in the music industry, in publishing, management, publicity, and radio promotion. She is the author of The DIY Guide to the Music Biz, and is also the former music business columnist for Vibe Magazine. Carla also blogs about the life of an indie musician.

http://RockStarLifeLessons.com

Derek Nicoletto is currently working on his first solo album due out in 2010, after two acclaimed years as lead singer and songwriter for Telling on Trixie, the “indie rock powerhouse” (Skope Magazine). Derek’s music has been featured in 11 national TV programs and commercials. He has performed for more than 3 million people live on Sirius Radio. As a TV host, Derek has conducted hundreds of artist-on-artist interviews for MTV LOGO’s New Now Next program, ranging from Margaret Cho, Ludo, The Decemberists, Girl in a Coma and Amanda Palmer. As social media fanatic, he maintains sites on YouTube/, Facebook/, Myspace/, Twitter/dereknicoletto
www.dereknicoletto.com

Phil Putnam is an indie singer/ songwriter and recording artist whose piano-pop/rock style places him in the good company of fellows like Elton John, Tori Amos, and David Gray. He has released seven albums in the past eight years, with his most recent release “Casualties” presenting several hit singles and earning him the honor of having the longest-running video in the history of MTV’s LOGO Network. Recognized for his keen sense of music business, publicity, and social networking for indie artists, he has become an indie music business go-to guy. Also an author, his daily column “Ask Mr. Moxie” can be read on moxieq.com as well as all Sprint and Boost Mobile PDA’s worldwide.
www.philputnam.com

Dudley Saunders is a direct descendant of Daniel Boone. This “experimental folk” artist began singing his “surreal, modern folk tales” (Village Voice) to New York audiences in the early 90s. Full of talking corpses, insane women in rain-swept truck stops, the songs were (and are) an unnerving mix of mysterious-sounding folk and pop, making for a sound The New York Times calls “hallucinatory”. His most recent album, The Emergency Lane, was named one of the year’s Ten Best by Frontiers, Next Big Thing and RobKast Radio. He is currently recording his fourth album in Los Angeles.
www.dudleysaunders.com

Jennie Walker is a New York based singer, songwriter and charity fundraiser. Her debut album, “It’s My Time” was Co-written with Tommy Faragher, Grammy Nominee and 12-time platinum selling producer. Jennie is releasing her much anticipated album on December 10, 2009 on UK based Maddie Records. When not in the studio, Jennie is active in the music industry and in non-profit and charity fundraising endeavors. She is a member of the prestigious Artists Against Hunger & Poverty Program World Hunger Year. Jennie will be donating a percentage of the proceeds of her album to WHY, The Carter Center, Columbus State University, and The Synergos Institute.
www.jenniewalker.com

Jason Walsmith is the co-founder of the band The Nadas and Authentic Records. The Nadas are a Des Moines, IA based band that have been together for16 years, touring the country and independently releasing successful records. Authentic Records is a cultivator of fine musical artists from the heartland and the rest of the country, who may otherwise go “under-noticed.” Authentic‘s goal is to help bring these artists‘ music to the masses, with a focus on not only building individual careers, but also building a community of artists helping artists.
www.thenadas.com

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