How To Build Your Band's Electronic Press Kit

How To Build Your Band's Electronic Press Kit
Much has changed for musicians with the rise of social media from artist-fan relations to the distribution of music

By Audiolife (more articles from this author) 2009-02-18

Comment | Email | Print | RSS

Much has changed for musicians with the rise of Social Media from marketing to artist-fan relations to the distribution of music. This has forced artists to rethink how they communicate with labels, the press and fans. A traditional form of presenting music to industry stakeholders is the press kit. These typically have included a demo, photos, printed reviews, biography, etc. But with the various resources available with Web 2.0, such as MySpace Music, artists essentially have an electronic press kit that is available to anyone at all times. This doesn't mean that all artists use their MySpace page for this reason or even should. Instead they should use it as one element in creating an electronic press kit (EPK) versus a traditional press kit. The following are 3 simple steps towards creating your very own EPK:

1. Create a MySpace Music or Website

Thanks to MySpace, it's no longer absolutely necessary for musicians to have their very own website. Instead, they can use their MySpace to showcase their music/videos/pictures and provide any additional biography/tour related information. Having a website doesn't hurt though because it could make you look more professional and allow you to be found through search engines. Whatever you decide to do, the link you provide in your EPK to your MySpace or website should include your work because, ultimately, this is what labels/venues care about the most. Whether you provide a link to your MySpace page or to your website, make sure that the music is easy to find. The idea is to get them to voluntarily listen to your music rather than feel like it's being forced upon them, which could potentially turn them off right away. However, MySpace isn't the only tool you can use. YouTube is increasingly popular and not only can you display your music but can even include a video of yourself talking about it.

For a great example of a musician's EPK Click Here

2. Create a "One Sheet"

In addition to your music you should include some information about yourself but limit it to one side of a single page. This page can include a short bio, marketing plans, tour dates and any other information you deem relevant and important. You can use bullet points or titles/subtitles to make the text more organized and easier to read but try to keep it as simple as possible and not too fancy. Labels receive an overwhelmingly large amount of press kits all the time, which is why it's important to be concise and to the point. If you do decide to send your press kit via snail mail, make sure it's not highly elaborate and easily accessible. In other words, don't shrink wrap your CD or fill your press kit with glitter.

3. Send Your EPK

Typically, there are two places you send your EPK to: venues and labels. If you're sending to a venue, they're going to want to know how many audience members you're going to bring. This information can be included in the e-mail before you link them to your press kit and/or MySpace Music page. If you're sending to a label, they're going to place emphasis on you as a brand. This means they will want to know if you've toured with any bigger acts, where you've played and where you're from. Again, you can touch on these in the e-mail and then expand on them in your EPK. Be sure to personalize the email and then follow up.

Permalink: http://www.musicdish.com/mag/?id=12341

11 Ways To Promote Your Website

Headers, Tags, and Titles – Search engines continue to evolve but there are a few things you still can do to give them a clue about what’s on your website. One is to include your keywords in header tags. Additionally, craft a one or two sentence description that explains the content of each page, including some keywords from the page. This should go between the tags. Finally, you should write short, descriptive titles for each page. Don’t use the same one for each.

Keywords – Look at your website copy. Are your keywords in the first paragraph? They should be because that is where the search engines expect to find them. But don’t go overboard with keywords.

SEO – The above tips actually are fairly basic SEO activities, but there are some higher level SEO tactics that will help raise you site above the crowd.
Hyperlink your keywords to make them stand out for both search engines
and for carbon-based web visitors. Make the linked keyword more
noticeable to search engines by linking it to a page that uses the keyword in its address. For example, if you hyperlink the phrase “ad agency” the page to which it is linked would have “ad agency” in its address to raise its profile. While we’re linking, let’s make these linked pages truly focused on information about specific keywords. If you really want to place your SEO program on steroids, purchase one of the software packages that helps you analyze each page on your site for its appeal to search engines.

Submit – There are both search engines and directories where you will want to submit your site. Key search engines for url submission include: Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, AOL and Ask. More than 95 percent of search volume happens at these engines. So, don’t bother too much with all the small fries. And it is not hard to complete free registration for these engines.
Typically, they will have a link that says something like “add your URL.” There are a number of directories like DMOZ.com where you will want to submit your site, too. And, I think it is worthwhile to pay the $299 at the Yahoo directory. There may also be directories specifically for your industry.

Link – Develop a linking program where you solicit links from sites that cover the same topics as you. This directs traffic from those sites. Additionally, it tells search engines that you must have something worthwhile on your site if others are linking to you.

Write – Articles, blogs, news releases - all of these can help you increase your exposure and drive traffic to your primary website. Craft your “About The Author” box to include your web address. Once your article is picked up
by other publishers, this will become a one-way link to your site, possibly helping boost your search engine ranking. Submit your press releases to PRWeb. I get a ton of traffic for myself and clients using this service.

Go Email – Develop your own e-newsletter, like Think, to help drive repeat traffic to your site. I use nTarget for my email marketing. Then, archive the newsletter on your site. This solid content tells search engines that there is a
reason to visit you. Try to get other enewsletter publishers to mention you, consider trading ads with other publishers, or just buying ads outright. Finally, don’t underestimate the power of a good email signature to drive site traffic.

Give Yourself A Promotion – Sponsor contests or develop your own promotions and then submit them to contest directories like Contest Hound. You could give away copies of your book, e-book, or white papers for people who sign up for your newsletter. Give away your product or service to randomly selected registrants. This is a good way to build your list of contacts so you can then drive them back to your site.

Pay The Man – ReachLocal is my pay-per-click ad engine of choice. If you are truly local, this is a cost-efficient way to reach people in a specific market only. However, you also can launch nationwide campaigns, too. You deal only with ReachLocal and it handles placing and paying for the ads with multiple publishers. It works for budgets of all sizes.

Speak Up – All right, let’s go analog. There is no better way to make a good
impression on a large number of people at one time than to deliver a good speech. Be sure to have business cards or some type handout that lists your website. Every time I do a presentation I see a spike in web visits and enewsletter sign-up.

Go Offline – Look at every printed piece that you have. Is your web address featured prominently? Is it in small type or - horrors – not even there! Businesses with fleets of cars and trucks should have the web address on their vehicles. Think about other physical places you can promote your site.

Those are my 11 ways. Get to it.

Harry Hoover is a partner in ad agency

My Creative Team. He has 30 years of experience in crafting and
delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious
businesses like Bank of Commerce, The Bray Law Firm,
CruisingTheICW.com, Duke Energy, Focus Four, Jacobsen, Jenkins-Peer
Architects, Levolor, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd
Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, and Verbatim.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harry_Hoover

10 ways to stay focused and build your independent music empire.

(This article appears at http://www.discmakers.com/community/resources/ffwd/2009/indieresolutions.asp - By re-posting, BSM hopes it inspires progress in your career.)

Indie Resolutions
10 ways to stay focused and build your independent music empire.
By Jesse Gray | January 2009

As we roll into the New Year it’s time to make those ever-famous (or infamous) New Year’s resolutions. But have no fear; our list doesn’t require cutting out chocolate or getting up at 5AM to run. We want to help you where it really counts – your music career.

So how did we come up with this master list of goodness? We asked. We solicited answers from working musicians far and wide, as well as tapping into our own staff (we have a few hundred active musicians working here). After we sifted through the rubble we found ten diamonds that kept getting mentioned over and over. And now, here for your career-enhancing pleasure are the best of the best. Have a rockin’ 2009.

1. Write down your goals
You’ve heard this mentioned by everyone from your high school trigonometry teacher to the success guru on the late night infomercial. And there’s a reason that everyone keeps telling you that you should do it – it works. Writing down your goals for the year helps you to visualize the entire year in a snapshot and provides you with a clear course of action to take away from it. It also serves as a reminder that you can look back on throughout the year in case you’ve forgotten anything or strayed off course.

So as it pertains to music there are a few keys things you should have on your radar. Make a list of the venues you want to play and actively pursue them, partner with bands, record your next album, play in a charity gig, or rehearse twice a week. Whatever it is, make sure you write it down and commit yourself to making it happen.

2. Build (and use) your mailing list
You know you’ve said it, “Don’t forget to sign our mailing list.” But the question is have you done anything with those names? Your mailing list is one of the most overlooked weapons you have available. When the time comes for your CD release party a postcard in the mail and a well-timed email is often all it takes to get people motivated to buy advance tickets. Playing an area where you don’t make it to that often? Pull names from the last time you were there and send out an email or two a few weeks in advance.

One of the oldest tricks in the book (and it really works) is to get two personable fans or friends, one male and one female, to walk around the club with a sign up sheet for your mailing list. Because they are canvassing together the chances of them drawing a connection and getting a name are much greater. Plus, people are more likely to sign up when you bring the list to them as opposed to them having to cross a club to seek it out. Remember, make it easy for them.

3. Leverage your drive time (and downtime)
There are looooong hours on the road whether you are traveling from gig to gig or sitting around after sound check with nothing to do. This is a prime opportunity to take care of all the mundane (yet extremely important) details of your music career.

Bring your laptop along with you and get a wireless card. With these tools you can update your web site, check and respond to your fan email, book shows, and generally just stay connected with the engine that runs your career. Having an iPhone or Blackberry is a good start, but they don’t offer the functionality that a laptop does.

4. Use the web aggressively
OK, you have a MySpace page, big deal. What else are you doing online? Start a group on Facebook, piece together your own music videos and put them on YouTube, set up profiles on other music services and social networks like iLike, imeem, and more. Get a Sonicbids EPK, and use it. Don't just rely on MySpace – have your own site too. You need to control your brand and your own site is that place.

Blog regularly – and make it interesting: have an opinion, be funny, or intense, respond to fans’ comments. Interact with your fans via email, or let them upload their gig photos to your site. Set up your own social network with ning.com. It’s a big world out there and you have a number of avenues to get your voice - and music - heard.

5. Co-Promote
Find bands that have a similar sound, vibe, and feel as yours and make friends with them. Help them out by mentioning them on stage, promote upcoming gigs together, split costs to print flyers and posters, wear their t-shirts on stage.

A good rule of thumb is to try to make friends with a band from every city or town that you play in. This way every time you are coming there to play you can have them act as advance PR and get the word out. A big part of making this a successful venture is to do the same for them – remember there is no give without take. Make sure you show up at their shows and support them when they come to your town. A $7 cover charge and some face time could equate to 25-30 extra people at your gig next time you play their town. Heck, they may even let you crash at their place and save you hotel costs, too.

6. Seek sponsorship from a corporate entity
Even in a recession there are plenty of corporations that are looking to get as much exposure as possible. Companies like Jagermeister, Coca-Cola, Miller Lite, Vans, etc. are all prime positioning partners. One way to secure funds is by putting their logo on your materials such as your stage banner, drum heads, and anything else that gets exposure from their target market – your fans. Book an aggressive tour schedule and use it as leverage. Even something as simple as offsetting your poster printing costs by placing their logo on it goes a long way in helping you to promote on the cheap.

7. Book ‘em
Keep a book with people’s names and contact info along with what band they’re in or how you met them. Split it up by city for easy reference. When you need to book a show, contact someone, or remember people’s names it’s all right there like your own personal Yellow Pages. If you’re not old school you can do a lot of this with your phone, including keeping detailed notes. Just make sure that you have it backed up somewhere in case your phone dies or goes missing during that wild after party.

8. Always write a set list
A lot of musicians do it on the fly, and if that works for you that’s cool. However, we’ve all seen (or been guilty of) doing the band huddle. The song ends and everyone turns to each other to figure out what to play next. This can present a very unprofessional image as well as ruin the flow of a show. By having your set list ready everyone can transition right to the next song without losing the crowd’s interest or energy.

9. Rehearse weekly
It sounds like a no brainer, but the fact is a lot of bands either don’t feel like they need to or just don’t bother to keep a regular practice schedule. It’s just the same as any other trained skill – you have to practice to get better and stay sharp. How many times have you listened to a band’s album and it sounded tight, then you saw them in concert and they were anything but. Chances are you never went to see them again. Don’t let the grind of rehearsal jade you. Keep it interesting by writing a set list and constantly coming up with new ways to bridge songs. Or work on a set of cover songs that you like, even if you’ll never play them live it will help work on your timing and transitions. In the end it only means a better live performance and that’s always a good thing.

10. Play, Play, Play
Nothing does as much for a band or artist as exposure and that means playing out as much as you can. The benefits are numerous, such as building your fan base, selling merch, gaining name recognition, selling albums, making contacts, and so much more. There are very few artists who can live off of digital distribution and CD sales alone. Plus, the biggest benefit of all is that it’s fun! Don’t miss out on some of the most memorable moments of your life – get out there and jam.

Happy Planning!

-BSM

Handle Your Business

Ok. So this is more than a personal gripe than a tip for publicity. But considering that everything about YOU as a musician IS your brand, this is a big one when doing business with others in the same industry. Simply put, HANDLE YOUR BUSINESS. Treat your music as a business. If you don't have a corporation, business license, business plan and bank account. Do it NOW. I cannot tell you how many people ("artists" or "businesses") I come across who cannot provide an invoice when I request one. This drives me up the wall and speaks VOLUMES.

Here's a recent article on Apple that I thought was very well written and inspired me to ask: What does my service say about my company? Is is helping or hurting my brand?

I hope you pose the same questions to yourself.

How Apple Is Blurring the Line Between Marketing and Service
Pete Blackshaw Explains Why Consumer-Facing Brands Can Benefit From Better Customer Interaction

By Pete Blackshaw

Published: June 23, 2008

"How can I help you, and where would you like to go?"

In this simple greeting, there's a huge question: Are the greeting and the experience that follows marketing or service or both?

In the last couple of months, Apple has boosted the number of "concierges" who greet and direct shoppers as soon as they walk in the door of its retail stores. Apple has always had employees at the front, ready to help, but this time it is positioning an eager-to-please offensive line a few steps from the doorway.

These employees don't wait until you look utterly confused to ask you what you need. They intercept you -- though not intrusively and always with a smile. The concierge in the orange shirt, Apple writes in its popular website, "is your guide to the Apple Retail Store, ready to answer your questions and point you in the right direction."

What's going on here and what can we learn? First, it goes without saying that Apple is redefining and reshaping the retail experience via the company's growing roster of stand-alone stores. But there's something even bigger going on here, akin to how online show retailer Zappos.com is turning the traditional rules of e-commerce upside down.

Things once considered the dark side of Apple, such as tech support, are on the verge of becoming strategic assets, with the Apple Store's geek-stocked Genius Bar able to tackle just about any issue or concern your have. And the process of planning that interaction is more akin to scheduling a haircut or spa treatment than calling those inaccessible tech-support lines.

In my most recent interaction, which centered on a broken video iPod, it took me about 15 minutes to get to my seat at the bar. After multiple rapid-fire tests, the Genius helper concluded my well-exercised MP3 player was toast and laid out a rather simple replacement process. Along the way I tossed in a few unrelated questions, which he gleefully, patiently answered.

Whether explicitly acknowledged or not, there's an unmistakable "service is marketing" mantra pervading every aspect of the Apple Store. And that's something every brand, even those not as shiny as Apple's, can learn from. The opportunity to solve problems, find solutions and even address "the darn thing doesn't work" emotional pain-points all lead to a higher impact-marketing and sales proposition. While not every marketer has a Steve Jobs-inspired vision, every consumer-facing company has problems that can be converted into opportunities to inspire loyalty.

In the case of the "service concierges," they are not waiting for problems. They assume you arrive at the Apple Store looking specifically for something, and in most cases they are right. And even if serendipity is your cup of tea, they'll help you navigate that experience as well. What's important about this front line is not just the help these employees provide, but the halo of service they create. They are there if you need them, a reality that brings more confidence to the overall shopping experience.

Joey Dunn, a University of Cincinnati video-production student who enthusiastically helped me out in the front of the store, noted he's not driven by sales commissions or even pressure to credit a sale to the particular store. "As long as it's helping Apple," he noted. He did acknowledge that employees receive discounts on products, although he refused, with state-secret mystique common to Apple culture, to say just how much. "Let's just say they take care of me."

More important, their presence reminds consumers that the Apple brand has authority, expertise and, of course, a certain level of geeky yet accessible passion that lures fans to the brand.

"They hire people who are extremely familiar with the product," explained Pat Henry, a Ford engineer and iPhone-equipped Apple enthusiast who I interviewed outside the store. "They then use that knowledge and expertise as leverage in the sales process. By doing this they can actually sell more effortlessly."

It's no coincidence that other brands are paying attention. Sony is borrowing many of the same tactics in Sony-only stores -- and others may be well-served by doing likewise. Henry, with characteristic Apple evangelism (or bias), called out a host of "opportunities" for Best Buy, for instance. "The employees simply work off spec sheets and simply don't know what they are talking about," she said.

Now in fairness to the Apple-aggrieved, the brand is not perfect and there's no shortage of tough-love from consumers about Apple 1-800 lines and other dimensions of online tech support. As an Apple user myself, I do think those have improved, but not to the level of excellence that exists at the Apple Store. I'd also be lying if I didn't profess my disappointment, even dismay, over having to actually pay a premium for faster-response (and more patient, I presume) phone support.

Still, Apple is introducing some important new lessons and questions for marketers:

* Service is marketing. As marketers struggle to "engage" consumers, service may well be the easiest and most gratifying starting point -- and one with high sales conversion potential.
* Problems are opportunities. Tech support is an emotional experience -- so why not capitalize on that insight by openly and enthusiastically solving problems, giving reassurance and showing compassion for the pain and frustration. A satisfied consumer might just buy something else while making the trip.
* Employee authority and passion aids selling. When employees "walk the talk" in using the product they sell, credibility goes up -- and credibility drives persuasion. Passion and evangelism also move the needle.

Should we all take a bite of out of this Apple? Even a nibble might help.

See full article at http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=127905

Clean and Organized Mailing Lists

This may seem like common knowledge to some, but I can't tell you how many times a client comes to me without a clean and well organized mailing list. If they do have something it's a barrage of spammed email addresses, clumped together, without an understanding of who's included on the list or what they want to communicate to them. Some have nothing at all.

It is absolutely important to build strong mailing lists (yes plural, I'll get to that) in order to maintain relationships to those industry people you've meet at networking events, fans who've attended your shows and family/friends that will support you no matter what. It is just as important to use them properly.

Here are a few tips that will improve how you communicate about your music career.

1. DO NOT SPAM. I know you've heard it before, but it can be detrimental to your reputation and snatching email addresses of unknown people is really just a waste of time.

2. Take time with your message. Be sure it's clear, easy to read, to the point with proper spelling and grammar.

3. Divide your mailing lists into different audiences, here are a few off the top of my head but you can customize your audiences as you see fit: industry, fans, press, friends/family and radio.

4. When a news-worthy event takes place (not just any event, don't waste people's time), new song, new video, upcoming show, award, etc. draft a basic message and customize it for each audience. For example, for a new song be sure to include a link for people to buy it for your fans and friends/family audiences, a link to download the mp3 to radio audience, and just a press release to press.

5. Maintain your list. When an email bounces or you get a message back of new contact information, be sure to update your list.

6. Safe guard your list and ALWAYS BCC messages or use a service like Constant Contact or Topica.


All this will take time but is so worth it.

I welcome your comments.

-BSM