The #1 Question You Ask…

by Cari Cole

 

The #1 question I get asked on a regular basis is:

 

“What is the fastest way to grow my fanbase and get followers?”

 

I hear you! It’s every musician, recording artist, anyone-daring-to-live-the-dream’s dilemma.

 

As I said last week in my Smart Musician Strategy teleclass the question you should really be asking yourself is “what am I giving them to make them want to follow me?”

 

Because no matter how much social media you post, if you are not giving your potential fan a real reason to give you their email address, your efforts will fall on deaf ears.

 

So you’ve got a great record – right? So NOW WHAT?

 

The hard truth is, no matter how great your music is, your beautiful little record will start to sink in the quicksand and melt into the collective puddle of unrecognized art-that-could-have-been faster than you can say “tomorrow” and I am quite certain that is NOT what you signed up for.

 

And what you need is a — drumroll…

 

Strategy.

 

So on the call the other night I revealed the steps to creating your strategy. I promised I’d blog about it so here it is. Some of you said it was the best call I’ve ever given, so you might want to listen in again to it (or for the first time) here as you read along.

 

THE SMART MUSICIAN STRATEGY

 

1. Brainstorm Once a month pull out a giant stickie. In the center write your biggest goal (make it a S.M.A.R.T. Goal – see #2).

Then brainstorm all the ways to reach that goal in the rest of the space!

Questions to ask during your brainstorm:

Where is my audience? How can I best reach them. What does this record SAY that people need to know – or need somehow? Is it a break up record, or a record about finding yourself, breaking through, empowerment, or a blues record to cry in your beer over? Where does this record fit and where are your peeps?

2. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

S (Specific), M (Measurable), A (Achievable), R (Realistic), T (Timely)

Goal setting is the key to targeting your next moves and moving forward. Always keep a list of goals.

Don’t worry whether or not you achieve every one of them. Their purpose is to hold a benchmark or a fence post of your next goal post and catapult you ahead. Set real tangible goals you can reach and then keep moving them a little further out each time.

3. Brand Yourself Artfully, Creatively

I can’t say this enough. Your image, photo, and website branding is the key to people listening to your music. Your presentation is what they see before they ever click play. Poorly designed materials and bad photos actually repel people. You’ll never really know, except you’ll just hear crickets.

4. Make a Plan

Is your record the starting line or the finish line? It’s actually the starting line for getting your music out to the world. Now that you have your goal and just upped your brand it’s time to make a plan for your how you are going to market your music. It will probably start with your systems and the logistical stuff first. The planning stage is all about the details. This is where most people make mistakes. You want to be sure to have someone on your team to plan with. Work with a VA (Virtual Assistant) and consider hiring a coach/mentor to help you slam this home. Your career depends on it.

5. Create a Strategy for Your Release (and each release)

If you just learn one thing from this article this should be it:

From now on, do not release anything without a strategy. What do I mean?

Each time you release something it is an opportunity to market. That’s why you see Lana Del Rey and so many artists releasing in stages. It builds momentum and anticipation of the record and gives them time to get the word out. Never release your record all at once.

Sample Strategy:

1. What is the Theme of your record? Be sure it speaks to your fans – something for them to get excited about.

2. Create a name for your fans to accompany the theme (Lady Gaga, Record campaign theme: Born This Way, Fan club name: Little Monsters).

3. Plan out a social media campaign – write tweets and posts, vine, instagrams, etc. – around your theme. People engage more with a theme.

4. Video release for 21 (or 30) days to grow views w/FB. Then release mp3. Then next video for 21 (or 30) days marketing each theme of the song with the overall theme of the record (they should be cut from the same cloth). Do this for 2-3 months, then release the record.

There are other pieces to this but I don’t want to overwhelm you. I lay this out in detail in my Fast Forward Program + Blueprint that artists are using to gain serious traction with their music.

 

Hungry to rock your brand and bring your music to the world with a purpose and vision? Join me and a group of highly talented indie artists this August 26^th.