12 most helpful things I've learned about being in the music business

Here are the twelve most useful tips I have gathered so far while trying to learn how to promote myself as a musician and singer. I have picked them up from all sorts of sources so message me if you want more details on any of them.

1) Every, or almost every, social media post should contain 4 things; a picture, a call to action, and a link. Also, the shorter the better, and on facebook, try to use time-based words like 'today' or 'just now' - it helps your post to rank higher and therefore show up in more people's news feeds.

2) The two things missing from most websites: 1 - A 'press' section, including pictures, a short bio, and quotes that anyone from the media can 'lift' with ease to publish anything about you. You want to make it easy for someone to find all the relevant info. and 2 -A 'Booking Info' section. Including performance statistics, stage plot if you have a band,  live pictures and videos, media quotes specifically about your live shows. and anything someone who is interested in booking you might want to know.

3) Think about the purpose of your website. Is it to sell your music directly? Expand your subscriber base? Get bookings for private functions? Or for large theaters? Design your website around one main goal, and one or two sub goals depending on your needs.

4) Get professional photos. Pay someone to do it for you. It makes a big difference, the difference between a professional and an amateur. They will do things you can't even imagine to subtly make your image more pleasing.

5) Youtube is the number 1 place where music is discovered nowadays, so have ALL your music up there, even with a picture or 'lyric' videos if you don't have a full video.

6) Be consistent. Across all your internet platforms. As much as possible, the same fonts, the same, images the same colours. This strengthens your image.

7) Connect! A simple one, but the more people you have in your network, the more opportunities you are connected to. Network = Opportunities.

8) The most important thing about social media is to 'engage' people, and second most important is to keep you in their minds. You don't want to come across as obtrusive, but you want to remain present, so think about how you can engage people. Ask them questions, run competitions, show them something funny, respond to their responses to you etc.

9) Ask. If a 'call to action' is made explicit it is three times more likely to be effective. So if you want likes, ask. If you want people to share, repin, comment, link, retweet, plus 1, or anything else, ask. Not too much, but don't be shy. Call people to take action, if you want them to take action.

10) Follow up everything. If someone offers you a gig in conversation, it's not impolite to send a quick message a couple of days later. Most of the time the response is 'oh yeah, I forget, what dates can you do in...'.

11) Think about how you can expand you network. Attend events, grow your social media connections, use your social media to drive people to your website, put on a show with a similar artist, or collaborate on a youtube video. People who like their stuff will also like your stuff and vice versa. There is an almost unlimited number of things you can do to expand your fanbase, and when its big enough you can ask them to; fund something, attend your shows, spread the word etc. etc. What I love about the music industry these days is how personal your relationship is to your fans, especially as an indie artist.

12) Give away your music. At least some of it. Even in the old days artist made 90% of their income from live shows. If you can leverage your music to grow your fanbase, that will be far more valuable long term than making a a small amount of money now. Draw people in. Invite them in, give something out. :)