Being an artist that wants to promote my music, I currently have both a myspace and a private domain website. Which is a better platform for me to use?
- Brian H - Nashville, TN
Brian,
In a simple answer...both. When promoting your work online you should decide on a "home base." This could either be your own personal domain, MySpace page or Facebook. The more outlets you have showing off your work, the more exposure you have to gain.
Setting up your profile on all of the social networking websites will be time consuming but will be worth it. Of course you would rather be in the studio laying down new tracks instead of uploading pictures and songs, but the time you invest will be well worth spent. The key is to use those sites to funnel visitors to your "home base" site. It may help with your search engine optimization having big sites like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook linking into your site to improve your search ranking.
My advice is to see if your name or band name domain is available to purchase. I recommend GoDaddy.com for easy affordable web domain registration. In acquiring your domain name it is important to keep a few things in mind. If your band has a long name you may want to select an alternative that is short and catchy. Here are a few tips to consider before launching your site.
Shorter is Better - If your band name is long like the "Merriweather Allstar Groupies" you may want to shorten it to MAG.com or MAGMusic.com or something similar. Try to keep it simple so fans can easily remember it.
Are you ready? - Make sure your website is fully functional before you launch. If your site has a lot of dead links (links that do not work) or missing files then promotion of your site is fruitless. Imagine how you feel when you go to a site that has dead links or missing files. Do you ever go back?
Keep it Fresh - Keep your content new and ever changing. Fans want to know the latest and you have to give them a reason to keep coming back for more.
If you do not have any experience in building websites then have no fear. If you do not have a web domain still go and get one. This will help drive traffic to your site. How will it drive traffic you ask? Because Go Daddy allows you to forward your domain name to another site. Simply purchase and register your domain name and then forward it to whatever web page you have designated as your "home base."
You need to keep your momentum going. I am not sure if you have a series of performances in a defined local area or a nationwide tour but there are many things you can do to sustain popularity. If you are playing in the local area then I would recommend encouraging interaction from your fans and keep them hyped about your next gig.
An easy way to do this is use your website to drive folks to your shows and use your shows to drive folks back to your website. This creates a perpetual process that will assist in gaining momentum for your concerts. Here is a scenario that may help you out.
On your website you should have your entire performance schedule posted readily available and easily seen. Include pictures, video and music clips to give visitors a sense of what they missed and/or have to look forward to next time. Once fans arrive at the show give them a reason to go back to your site once they get home. Offer them the opportunity to purchase a download from the show they are attending or throw out guitar picks and or drumsticks emblazoned with your band name, logo and website. InTune Guitar Picks was listed on Google and seem to do a great job on customizing picks that you probably need anyway. Why not buy them to throw out during the show?
Keep it simple and keep this in mind...use your website to promote your live performances and use your live performances to promote your website. Good luck!
Stay Tuned...
Brian,
In a simple answer...both. When promoting your work online you should decide on a "home base." This could either be your own personal domain, MySpace page or Facebook. The more outlets you have showing off your work, the more exposure you have to gain.
Setting up your profile on all of the social networking websites will be time consuming but will be worth it. Of course you would rather be in the studio laying down new tracks instead of uploading pictures and songs, but the time you invest will be well worth spent. The key is to use those sites to funnel visitors to your "home base" site. It may help with your search engine optimization having big sites like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook linking into your site to improve your search ranking.
My advice is to see if your name or band name domain is available to purchase. I recommend GoDaddy.com for easy affordable web domain registration. In acquiring your domain name it is important to keep a few things in mind. If your band has a long name you may want to select an alternative that is short and catchy. Here are a few tips to consider before launching your site.
Shorter is Better - If your band name is long like the "Merriweather Allstar Groupies" you may want to shorten it to MAG.com or MAGMusic.com or something similar. Try to keep it simple so fans can easily remember it.
Are you ready? - Make sure your website is fully functional before you launch. If your site has a lot of dead links (links that do not work) or missing files then promotion of your site is fruitless. Imagine how you feel when you go to a site that has dead links or missing files. Do you ever go back?
Keep it Fresh - Keep your content new and ever changing. Fans want to know the latest and you have to give them a reason to keep coming back for more.
If you do not have any experience in building websites then have no fear. If you do not have a web domain still go and get one. This will help drive traffic to your site. How will it drive traffic you ask? Because Go Daddy allows you to forward your domain name to another site. Simply purchase and register your domain name and then forward it to whatever web page you have designated as your "home base."
We had our first summer concert and the turnout was great. We are not sure if the work we put in promoting the concert worked and not sure how to make sure the people come back. What should we do?
Jackson L. - Memphis, TN
Jackson L. - Memphis, TN
You need to keep your momentum going. I am not sure if you have a series of performances in a defined local area or a nationwide tour but there are many things you can do to sustain popularity. If you are playing in the local area then I would recommend encouraging interaction from your fans and keep them hyped about your next gig.
An easy way to do this is use your website to drive folks to your shows and use your shows to drive folks back to your website. This creates a perpetual process that will assist in gaining momentum for your concerts. Here is a scenario that may help you out.
On your website you should have your entire performance schedule posted readily available and easily seen. Include pictures, video and music clips to give visitors a sense of what they missed and/or have to look forward to next time. Once fans arrive at the show give them a reason to go back to your site once they get home. Offer them the opportunity to purchase a download from the show they are attending or throw out guitar picks and or drumsticks emblazoned with your band name, logo and website. InTune Guitar Picks was listed on Google and seem to do a great job on customizing picks that you probably need anyway. Why not buy them to throw out during the show?
Keep it simple and keep this in mind...use your website to promote your live performances and use your live performances to promote your website. Good luck!
Stay Tuned...
Posts
