Promotion: The Power of the Koozie...

Yes I have been gone since October 1st, such is life, but life is good. d and Mystic Nation are in full swing either live and in the studio, but this blog has gone by the way side...NO MORE!!!! I am revived and ready to help find more resources for the artist to help them strive in the music industry...and it remains FREE! Not even a sales pitch! Of course resources are more than welcome to advertise across my sites :)

If you have been using most of the resources on this blog to help your band while i was out and about, chances are you were too busy too read this blog in the first place, so let's get back on track shall we.

Today's promotional tactic....the Koozie. It's that little piece of neoprene that keeps beverages cold and also becomes a traveling advertisement. Having just gone through a whole box in 2 shows flat, I can only say these are very popular. And far more useful as well. We went with the collapsable Koozie first round, makes it easier to lug to shows and for people to take home. A little more flimsy than a standard Koozie, but hey they can always come back to another show if they break theirs :)...which is the point of it all anyway.

When designing the Koozie art...keep it simple...band name or logo and in small print beneath your website address(minus the http://)



If you get quoted by your printer over $140 at a 100 quantity, email me and I will get you some info on a great online tool for low inventory purchases.

Resource of the Day - Taxi

Taxi is a website/comapny that puts musicians together with industry needs, check it out, and give me some feedback, I have not personally used them, but am currently looking into using their services. Reminds of sonicbids in a way.

Website
Taxi

Resource of the Day - Google Ad words

If you have a minimal budget, this is a great way to drive traffic to your website based on certain key words that you provide. There is a wealth of information and help in using the system. I would suggest starting of using the basic system and grow into using all the other tools like traffic analysis and custom keyword control.

Website
Google Ad Words

Expose Yourself! - FIZZKICKS.com

So this is a very interesting idea for getting your songs to the masses at your shows or if you are walking down the street talking to someone and they ask what you sound like. Instead of giving away a CD give them a music card they can use to down. Now my take on this is you can use it as a way to peak some curiousity and lead the horse to water. If they like the one track they bought using the card, they might be more likely to purchasde so more. I am thinking great online POS type of concept.


Link

fizzkicks.com

Haven't had the chance to upload songs but our future fizzkicks site went up
Mystic Nation FizzKicks site


Here is there selling point as found on sonicbids.com...some reason that site keeps coming up, wonder why, have a clue yet....and I must repeat I have no association with them :)

For Your Submission - Music Submit

Here is a very handy tool for promoting your music, do it!

Link
Music Submit

According to there website
"You'll save time & money using our system. We'll save you hundreds of hours tracking down radio stations, music magazines, other music sites - we've already done this work for you! Your music will be delivered directly to their inbox - save money on postage!"

Resource of the Day - Music Connection

Great resource for submitting player wanted ads, and also a chance you can get your demo reviewed if they select to review it.

Website
Music Connection

Resource of the Day - Constant Contact

Todays resource is extremely important if you have a fan base and want to be able to communicate with them via email. Constant Contact is one of the easiest resources to use for managing and adding to your band mailing list.

Constant Contact has a great interface for building both HTML and text based emails and also provides great tracking of what people do once they get the email.

Website
Constant Contact

Resource of the Day - Garageband.com

garageband.com

Another great place to set up shop and promote yourself.

Resource of the Day - lyrics.com

Lyrics.com

The Business Side Part 1 - AllMusic.com

Sending your product to allmusic.com is mandatory. Don't think why, don't ask why, Submit your finished CD to this website. It has many benefits.

1. When you decide to join the Recording Academy as an artist, this is the site they use to validate your existence.

2. Wikipedia editors look here to see if you have the necessary three works of art to be a artist with a bio on wikipedia.

Basically it is one of a thousand sites you will want to put your music on this happens to be a more important one than most. You existence on this website shows that you put a little more effort and thought into your music career and are really trying to be the Little Engine that could.

The Publics First Glimpse - Part V myspace

myspace. It's a blessing and a curse. Regardless, these types of forums are a great way to get ones self out in front of a mass audience. Myspace is the big one, and contrary to popular belief it does not level the playing field between you and everyone else, but it serves its own purpose, cheap exposure.

So if you dont have any idea of myspace.com by now, go to www.myspace.com amd start an account, it is a painless process.

There are quite a few sites out there that do the same thing, but myspace is the most popular right now.

Big warning...you will get a lot of junk messages. Swet your comments sections so that you have to approve comments, otherwise all of your friends will think you are pushing penis and diet pills...trust me.

Some other words of wisdom, be engaged with the people who truly are interested in your music, it makes for great relationships and a closer connection.

There are a few more points to cover with myspace before we move on, this is just a starter.

The Publics First Glimpse - Part IV Branding

Time to put on the marketing cap and bring your checklist to life. Initial step in that process is branding, how are you presenting your name to the world. In the end it is how people are going to recognize and identify an artist or band.

With the Mystic Nation we choose a symbol that had a lot of depth and ancestral meaning and choose a font that related to that history. The Logo on the album is a direct take on our intial marketing push which include a very simple black and white version of the logo with the Band name and website on it. In my opinion it is a very distinct logo and very visible when put in and around the area.

The whole point was to have something that people could quickly make a connection with at a show or when they were driving around town and saw the barrage of stickers everywhere. F54 and Volcom clothing both do an excellent job as well with their logos and a very distintive and I am remind of them constantly everyday because their stickers are everywhere. Others in the music industry whom have had great sucess in using their brand is Metallica, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, Perfect Circle or No Doubt. Those are just the ones that hit my mind as I type.

Ok so sticker aside, as thats an item on the list and not the branding approach I am talking about, choosing your brand is very important so take some level of effort and time to finalize it, because the intention is to stick with it for the life of the project.

A couple paths one can go down is to hire a graphic artist for a couple hundred dollars or use one of those assembly line logo companies. Either way have a general concept sketched otu for them ahead of time so you can better explain your idea. More power to you if can actual design one, saves cash...and we all want to do that.

This branding should be consistent across all your items on the list, from T-Shirts to Hats to the website and your bio. Keep a uniform message as this leads to brand awareness as you force your presence upon the world. Being indy means it's all gurilla marketing warfare, don't be afraid to push your brand.


Some logo resources:
Logo Works
The Logo Co
Good do it yourself article

The Publics First Glimpse - Part III The Checklist

One thing that helped us when the Mystic Nation was getting set release our first CD was to sit down and ponder all the ways we could reach the audience. Regardless of the cost, we listed everything we could think of to help market our cause. Having a CD is great, but if nobodby knows about it, you might as well not make a first run of 2000 CDs.

Everything from matchbooks to a music video. It was amazing at how many ideas this spawned and from that we managed the list down to specific action items to pursue.

Basically it is a wave, once the first set of tasks is taken off, the next phase I pursued, and on and on.

It sounds like a simple idea, but it was an approach I had never seen taken in the 5 or 6 other bands I had been in, and the productivity and focus because of the list proved to me that it was a valuable tool.

Going over the top with organization, I highly recommend Microsoft Project. If you have the patience and organization skills, this is a very powerful tool. At this point you are starting to run your career like a business, with intent and focus, not just hoping you will get discovered playing in a coffee house.

The Publics First Glimpse - Part II - The Demo

Part of the joys, or pains, of the artist/band development process is putting one foot in front of the other and try not to miss a step on the way to achieving ones goals. One such step is trying to go out and book oneself at the local clubs and coffee shops without some proof that the artist or band is actually a good fit for the venue.

From the last post, at this moment there are two choices, the demo and or the full blown piece of work. Getting shows does not require a full blown production, and often times most clubs only want to hear a sample. So unless the end desire is to launch into the public in a blaze of glory, it is extremely time and cost effective to focus on a demo to get the bus on the road.

A demo does not need to be polished master quality, it can help, but it's highly unlikely to cause you to not get a gig, the music itself however probably will. Spending an extra $300 or $400 on a demo package at the local recording studio can save many frustrations and headaches, but if you are a savvy home engineer with a good ear, go for it.

Some key things to consider before the demo is recorded.

1. Whats the focus of the project? What type of club or promoter is getting this demo.
2. Pick the best three songs in the repertoire
3. Take these three songs and rehearse them to death, the tighter they sound the better you will be in the long run
4. Be honest and open about the focus as you go through the process, drop a tune if your gut says something just isn't right

I have never been the engineer on my own demo, so I can't honestly recommend any books, but I am sure there are plenty on amazon.com


Once the demo is recorded...

A beginning...

This blog will serve a purpose to condense as much infomation about tricks and tips and things that have worked and not worked over the years in the do it yourself music business. I am only an authority on the subject in my own world, so take the info with a level of seriousness or counter with even better information, or we can even be sarcastic all day long.

There are plenty of books out there on the art of being in a band, the key difference here is...I am not trying to make any money off you. The idea to blog this stuff really came to a head when I found myself repeating the same type of info to musicians I know, over and over, so this is a way to place all the info in one central location and let the feedback, if any, roll in and expand on the concepts.

I want this to serve as a communucation point between people who don't expect a label to hand them something, and honestly, don't care if they do. A place to express frustration and triumph with all the excellent tools available to the indy artist or even to the hobby musician looking to at a minimum get their product on the market and in distribution.

Over time I will go through several commercial sites that are beneficial...but I want to make clear I am not endorsing the use of these tools, merely pointing them out. I take no reponsibility for anyones failure or success along the way. Just because it worked for me, does not mean it will work for you...and there are many reasons this may be the case, but I am not one of them.

If you have any links or tools worth mentioning, please feel free to email me at goliath@mysticntion.info , provide me with the basics and I will do some research and report back on the blog.

Now let's go do some discovery!