You have more than enough friends, don’t you? You are way too busy to play that ‘social-media-outreach’ game, right?
I get it, I also have more than enough friends, but funny thing is, those friends are not first in line to buy my art? Most of them stay respectfully silent in the background while I post what I have created, and that’s fine, that’s just the way it is for all of us artist looking to make this ‘art-thing’ a livelihood. It’s nothing to get angry about, especially since most of your friends didn’t get to see your post in the first place. Here is a clue, how many people are currently ‘Following’ you on Facebook? Well, that low number is most likely not even close to your actual friend list, is it? That defiantly small number is exactly who gets to see your posts, the rest must roll the dice and check in on the day you post it, before it gets buried under a few more of your random posts (terrible odds at best).
I have been working with musicians long enough to see the patterns clearly, and the facts are in; most indie musicians don’t respect their social media outreach at all.
In fact, I would go as far as saying that most of them outright avoid it altogether. They just create, post…and wait. The real undeniable truth here is, most artists do not make for good business people.
What is that you hear? Silence.
Of course, because you have been far too anti-social to have anything more than a few cheerleaders show up to the game. You have made the mistake of thinking your friends are your fans, when in fact, those six-hundred friends on your personal Facebook page are closer to about three (and I don’t mean three-hundred either); friends are, simply put, not your fans.
The first rule of fight club is ‘You do not talk about your new music on your personal social media page first.’
You need to be aware of separating your private life from your professional one, and the easiest way to do this is to create a separate page on every social media platform you have, and only add those who support your work, and follow only those whose work you support. When I started my Music PR and Marketing Firm, I went gang-busters on reaching out! I didn’t care who I followed, or who followed me. I just said yes, yes, YES! To it all…and that was my first mistake, because this sort of shotgun social media outreach does little to capture the audience that you are intending to capture.
Is it better for your career to have forty-thousand non-paying random subscribers, or one that will purchase your album at full price? *Hint* You cannot pay your rent with social media likes.
I know, this feels like the long way around to a simple truth; if you are going to succeed in growing your music empire, then you must start really paying attention to social media, and you need to stop being so lazy and anti-social about the entire process.
Many clients of mine do not have time for social media, or so they think. It is true that from the outside it looks like doing social media right means that you must post every single day, but this is not the case (It is more like every second day).
Successful Social media outreach means that you take an interest in the community around you.
You cannot expect that shining a light on you is all that is required to gain a larger audience, sell more records, and bring more people to your show. The reality is that you also need to shine a light on the incredible community that you are trying to get accepted into. This means that when you come across an artist that inspires you to create your own work, that you take the time to share that artists work with your people, and perhaps, even take the time to reach out to that artist directly to show them your appreciation for their work.
A like for a like is an outdated process that leaves you with far too much filler and far too little in the authenticity department to create any real momentum for your music. So, then now, what should any serious artist do from here to break free of the self-defeating cycle of pretending to be social?
START BEING SOCIAL! Obviously.
That’s right, starting right now I want you to start making new friends. I want you to connect with the gift that you have of being able to reach out to everyone in the world through a simple post. I want you to see the value in sharing some of the spotlight with other creative-minded humans like yourself, and not just simply trying to keep the light all to yourself.
I want you to jump into the social media ring with both feet right now. I want you to read this, and if you like this, I want you to tell me that you do. Oh, dear me, I forgot that this article was about anti-social actions generating no sales, well, if it is money you are after, try being authentic first, and keep making friends. The money will come later, I promise.
Empire Music Promotions is a leading Artist Branding and Music Marketing Firm. We specialize in helping today’s serious-minded indie musicians create their own successful music Empires!
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