[MUSIC]
So in this video, we're going to talk about building your fan base.
So first and foremost,
the way that you build your fan base is gigging as much as possible.
I can remember when we first started, we had no assets, whatsoever.
We didn't have a website, we didn't even have an Instagram account.
We had no Twitter account, I had one Facebook page and that was about it.
And then I also, I should say I also had a couple of kind of scrappy
recordings that we had taken at rehearsals, and that was about it.
i just sent it to as many bars and cafes, and
places that I knew might be a good fit for us, as possible.
And, I only got maybe a couple bites back.
But, that's really how we started gigging.
Was we just sent out our stuff to as many people as possible, and we were kind and
nice, and the rest is history.
So, even though you might not have a ton of assets,
you might not have a professional website,
it's really almost a numbers game when you're first starting, right?
You just gotta send it out to as many people as you can,
and then hopefully somebody will nibble back.
If you have a little bit more time on your hands, and you'd like to kind of put
together a more professional kind of go at it, what's called an electronic press kit.
Here are a couple tips for you.
You don't necessarily need professionally recorded music.
You just want something that's going to represent what you're doing.
And something that's clear, and that's easy to listen to.
So as I mentioned before, we only really had some rehearsal recordings, and
that definitely did the job.
We were able to get festival gigs with just those rehearsal recordings.
They were really simple recordings that we just made with an iPhone.
And we used the app Spire, which was made by iZotope, which is a great little app,
and I highly recommend it.
It's free to use, and it creates pretty good recordings.
So make a couple of those.
You can also use videos, you can take videos of yourself,
you can take videos of your band playing.
They can be rehearsal videos, or
you could setup something a little bit more professional.
But generally, venues like to see who they're booking.
They like to see that you have a pretty good stage presence, right?
That, that you have a good look for their venue.
So, consider maybe uploading some YouTube videos, and
sending the links along with those too.
If you want to take a crack at making a website,
I would recommend looking at either Wix or Strikingly.
I personally use Strikingly.
I've used both, and both are really great platforms to create a free
really professional looking website.
I mean, we're talking like DIY, right?
So, if you have some resources to throw at it,
then you can definitely hire someone to build a website for you.
But if you don't, and you're really just getting started,
I would recommend checking out one of those two platforms to kind of
help the creative juices start flowing for your website.
As I mentioned earlier, when we first started booking gigs,
I didn't have an Instagram account, I didn't have a Twitter,
I didn't have any of those things.
I only had a Facebook page.
In hind site, I probably would have started an Instagram account and
a Twitter feed before I started booking gigs.
It's just a great way to show venues that you're a professional musician that you
have a presence, and then you have a following.
They're going to want to book you if they see that you have a few thousand
followers.
Especially if they're followers that are local to where their venue is located.
So when you get these gigs, and when you go to play these gigs, between your sets,
don't just be a recluse off from the corner by yourself.
Really, really try to get out there and
meet the people that are out in your audience.
Talk to them, say hello.
Ask them where they're from.
Ask them if everything sounds okay.
Just converse with them, and connect with them.
And that is really what is going to help you build that fan base.
They're going to remember you as a nice person, who is talented, who came and
talked to them right after their set.
So, remember, be nice.
The other thing that you want to do when you're at your gigs, and
when you have a website and social media is build your email list.
And yes, I know, many people have said that email lists,
nobody reads their email anymore.
Just use social media.
Email lists are really important, because they can give you some insight into your
fan base that you might not otherwise have if you're using social media.
So there's a couple of different ways that you can build your email list.
And again, these are just kind of some things to get you started.
I'm not going to go super in depth.
So, some of the things that we've done is, whenever we gig,
we always have an email list.
And we mention a couple of times throughout our set that, hey, if you like
what you hear and you want to keep up with us, come and sign up for our email list.
It's at our merch table, right?
So just have a nice little notebook with name,
email, zip code if you want, and then just have people just sign up that way.
So that's kind of like the tried and true method of gaining more emails.
The other way is if you do have a website, you can do kind of like fun contests.
We did an email contest where if people signed up for their email,
they would get a free house show.
Which is kind of unheard of, and of course we had to make
sure that the people that were entering the contest weren't in California,
since we're in New England, right?
I don't think that we'd be able to fly to California to play a free house show just
for signing up for our email list.
The most common thing you’ll see is a free download for an email sign up.
So you’ll see it on people’s websites.
You sign up for their email list, and then you get a free downloaded track, and
that works really well too.
Okay, so next we’re going to talk about social media.
And I’m not going to go into details about how to manage your social media account.
But what I will say is this, social media is incredibly important.
I personally, don't like being on my phone all the time.
I really like interacting with people one on one.
But I realized very quickly that social media is incredibly powerful.
So, you really want to invest some time.
And if maybe, social media management is not your strong suit,
delegate it to a band mate.
If it's something that you don't necessarily want to do all the time.
At first, I really dragged my feet about happening to set up all these different
social media accounts and managing all these social media accounts.
But I quickly learned that it really gave me a platform to connect with people
that really love my music, right?
People started commenting on videos that I post, and
telling me stories about themselves.
And stories about how my music reminds them of something else.
And as an artist, it's amazing.
I mean that's why I create music, right?
Is to connect with people.
And so I found that this thing that I thought that I was really going to not
like and that I thought was going to consume all my time.
Actually is really inspiring,
because I'm connecting with people on a very significant deep level.
So, if you might be feeling a little trepidatious about starting a couple
social media accounts.
Try it out and see if your opinions change, because I know mine certainly did.
It's important that you think about each of your social media platforms,
strategically.
You don't really want to share the same video, or
the same photo across all of your platforms.
You want your followers to follow you on all of your platforms.
You want them to have a reason to go to your Twitter, to got to your Instagram,
to go to your Facebook.
To go to your Snapchat, whatever it is that you're using.
You want them to see you in all of those different context.
What you don't want is for one follower to see something on your Twitter and
then say, hmm, I think I want to go to their Instagram.
Maybe there's something cool there too, and
then see all the same exact stuff, it's kind of a drag.
So, sit down and think strategically about how you're going to
leverage social media to make it work for you to build your fan base.
So for me, for example on my Instagram, I'll use that for videos and
photos of rehearsals.
Things that are a little bit more behind the scenes, kind of more personal.
And then for my Twitter, I'll use that to kind of generate some excitement around
things that may be coming down the line.
So, let's say I sit down to write a new song.
I'll tweet out, my gosh, I just sat down to write a new song and
I'm really excited about it, just so people can anticipate that.
So, if they see a tweet that says, I'm writing a new song.
They'll know that they need to go to my Instagram in a few days, and
it'll probably be posted there.
Now that's a lot of content to develop.
So, if you have bandmates, that's another thing that you can delegate to them.
Is to send you photos of things, little videos, little snippets,
tweets here and there.
Different things that you can kind of share with your fan base, so
that you don't have to come up with it all on your own.
Once you have your email list, and
once you have established social media channels.
You can use the data that you receive from these to really
figure out who your market is, and it might surprise you, or it might not.
Once you have a better sense of who your market is and
who your fans are, you're virtually unstoppable.
You'll know where to book your gigs, and
you'll also be able to know who to target any future paid campaigns to.
So this information is really going to help you further your marketing efforts
to help you get your band to the next level.