Stop trying to get a recording contract, you have no idea what is inside one of those 120 page, single spaced contracts anyway. Instead get to know who your fans are.
Stop trying to get a
recording contract, you have no idea what is inside one of those 120 page,
single space contracts anyway. Instead get to know who your fan is.
That's right. Study
up on your fans, the people who come to see your live shows, buy your records
and merchandise, and visit your websites. Those folks are the most valuable
asset you have outside of the outrageously great songs you have written.
Studying the lifestyles of your fans will give you a passport to making money
with your music. Why? Because when you discover who they are in great detail,
their habits and lifestyles will inspire ways of reaching them you never
imagined.
Haven't you seen
hundreds of entertainment products and other merchandise for sale at unusual
stores and other places outside of the obvious stores? You know, stuff like the
action figures associated with some mega movie promotion given away with a
hamburger. Or, how about those special deals where if you subscribe to a certain
magazine, you get a free book or discount coupons good for movie tickets. Well,
if you have it is because most every company that has a product to sell spends a
huge amount of time, effort, and money researching the lifestyles of their
potential customers.
So, here are a bunch
of questions you can spend some time researching and thinking about. After I
list the questions I will show you some examples of how to use the answers to
these questions.
- How old are they?
(determine the widest range of their ages)
- What gender are
they? (if both, what percentage is dominant, or is it even?)
- Are they of one
particular ethnic background or a mix of backgrounds?
- Do they drive cars
to work, or do they carpool, take public transportation, ride bikes, or
walk?
- If they go to
school, what kind of schools do they go to?…gradeschools, highschools,
colleges, business schools, universities?
- Are they religious
people, or spiritual seekers, or athiests?
- What political
parties do they belong to, and what if any causes do they champion?
- If they go out to
dinner, what kind of restaurants do they go to…fancy and expensive places
or fast food restaurants?
- Where do they shop
for clothes…Value Village, Kmart or Nordstroms?
- What kind of
hobbies and other interests beside music do they have… mountain climbing,
hiking, jogging, boating, other sports activities?
- What other music
do they like…particularly what other bands and artists do they spend their
money on?
- What kind of
movies do they go see in theaters, and/or rent at videostores?
- When they travel,
do they go by car, bus, train, or plane?
- What books might
they enjoy reading, and where would they buy them?
- What kind of
volunteer work might they do…work in hospitals, fairs and festival
volunteers, church groups, youth clubs?
- What TV shows
might they watch, and what radio stations do they listen to?
- What internet
websites do they visit on a regular basis?
OK. So now, how do
you begin finding out all the answers to these questions? Well, a client came to
me one time and told me that for 2 years they had been videotaping their live
shows to watch at rehearsals, so they could see what their stage appearance
looked like from the audiences point of view. I applauded this habit, but told
them that after 2 years of doing that they should turn the video camera around
and videotape their audience! A picture is worth a thousand words, right? So,
studying your audience for awhile should give you some big clues to their
lifestyles. You will see their ages and genders, their hairstyles and clothing,
and if you look between the lines you can make some pretty good educated guesses
on some of the things I have suggested in the questions listed above.
In the beginning you
will have to get use to this new habit of studying your fan. Give it time. After
awhile your ongoing survey of who they are will begin to tell it tale, and
before long you will be thinking like a professional marketer.
When you see that
most of your audience are 18-25 for example, are more male than female, are in
community colleges or enrolled in a university nearby,and buy their clothes at
second hand stores…then you can find some fun and exciting promotion and
marketing ideas that may catch their attention. Like, concentrate your live
shows on having house parties, or playing campus venues, and blanketing the
campuses with posters and flyers. Get a campus organization to sponsor one of
your shows, get a listing or a story about your act in the college paper, and
partner with a local record store to sell your concert tickets and offer a
dollar off your CD when they buy a concert ticket. Make your show a partial
benefit for that charity second hand clothing store, so that they can promote
your show with posters and handouts to their customers, and have a small display
at their checkout counter for your CD at the clothing store too. (But don't
forget to sell your CD and other merchandise at all your shows, and have your
mailing list available for the new fans to sign up for).
If your fan research
shows that you have fans who are older, you will have to go a different route.
lets say they are females, 25-39 and live an alternative lifestyle that includes
shopping at having groups of friends over for a book club discussion, listening
to acoustic music, and preferring tea to coffee. Then think about doing what I
call 'tell a friend' acoustic home concerts. You select a fan to host a show at
their home and invite their friends to attend for free. You again make your
money by selling your CDs and other merchandise to an ever expanding fanbase.
Then. If you have a CD called 'Red' for example, and you are sitting around that
tea shop and you notice they have a brand of tea called 'Red', approach the shop
owner and tell them you have a natural co-promotion you can do with their tea
and your CD. ( A free box of tea with every CD sold at their shop!)
So, there you go. The
list of promotional ideas and inspirations for creative self marketing are
endless, when and if you know who your customer is. The best independent labels
out there are thinking this way all the time. That is why you may have seen hip
hop CD compilations for sale at shoe stores, or found CD samplers given away at
bookstores. Your customer is really not that much different than you. Just start
paying attention wherever you are, and wherever they are and watch how other
products are being sold and marketed. The customers are out there, but they have
a lot to choose from, so get your music to them in fun and creative ways.
Your fans won't let
you down.
| Comments () >> |
 |
|
