Resource of the Day: Digsby....stay connected

One great thing about the internet is the power it gives a group or artist the ability to communicate. The problem is there are many avenues and staying organized and not neglecting a certain segment can become daunting...facebook, myspace, twitter...all your email...instant messaging...it all adds up to a lot of stuff to monitor...

Enter Digsby...

As Digsby puts it:

Digsby is a multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list.

digsby is an email notification tool that alerts you of new email and lets you perform actions such as 'Delete' or 'Report Spam' with just one click.

digsby is a social networking tool that alerts you of events like new messages and gives you a live Newsfeed of what your friends are up to.

Resource of the Day: Carbonite.com

Being an artist or a band, having pictures, press releases and digital versions of demos and songs is essential. Problem is several hands are in the cookie jar and things can get lost over time. Not only that, but a computer crash can always be a doomsday for photo...as well as losing demos forever. Instead of being in fear, spend 49 bucks for the year and give everybody access that works on all assets related to the project.

Carbonite.com is a company that does this, and they are very reputable. This guarantees that all your information is in a centralized location and in a very safe place.

Resource of the Day - Elektrolab

Found this site which had a great list of links related to the Indy band experience. Check them out,you might find them useful. Regardless, it is always a good idea to have that resource notebook in process at all times. Check it out at www.elektrolab.com

My resource notebook is all stored in an excel document with each tab representing different aspects of the business. Usually just have website address, contact name if Applicable with phone number and email, as well as a notes box to track my latest interaction with that resource and the result. It is simple and basic, and at the core....ORGANIZED!!!!

Resource of the Day - Myxer

It has been a little while since I have found a resource of the day....here ya go...

Myxer is a company that allows you to create, share and sell your ringtones and wallpapers. I am going to be making a What Makes Rust wallpaper shortly to test their platform. Fun stuff indeed!

Link
Myxer

As they say "Mobilize your stuff"

Resource of the Day! : Promote on the Internet

Ah the internet is such a powerful weapon for the artist with a limited budget. I have found another great, in depth, resource for promoting your music via internet radio...check it out...

The Music Biz Bookstore


Happy Reading!

Resource of the Day - flashrock.com

The band d that I am in recently performed a webcast for these guys. Great group of people and a great source of exposure. In the spirit of this blog, Flashrock is a musicians helping musicians experience, and they are very cool in the process of helping out. They get an insane amount of views each month so the exposure is worth it. They also provide a lot of other tools for the common musican.

Check it Out

Website
FlashRock.com

Resource of the Day - FanCorps.com

Build your street team using this cool website.

Website

Resource of the Day

Wowsers has life been hectic, again d is playing up a storm and so much more is going on. A true testimoony to sticking it out and using all the resources at ones disposal. Visit d at dvolume.com

Today's resource comes from the Recording Academy, which by now is something you should be signed up for!

Resourceforce.net

Resourceforce.net Covers a wide range of needs... "Resource Force can assist musicians and recording professionals with home project management/organization, household staffing, moving/relocation, event and party planning, travel, pet care, graphic design and logo development and much more. It's like having a full-time personal assistant at your disposal anytime you need something."

Keep moving forward...and I will not let this much time go between posts!

Resource of the Day - FreeHand

Digital sheet music resource, lots of stuff at their website including a digital sheet music reading tablet....check it out really cool site.

Webite
FreeHandMusic.Com

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 - Craigslist.com

Craigslist is basically a large classfieds site, but its a great place to meet other musicians and to find gear and other music related items.

Website
Craigslist

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

Resource fo the Day - bandmix.com

Looking for some musicians, bandmix.com is a site dedicated to helping you do just that, as well as help you find a gig if you are looking for one.

Worked for us when we needs some horns for the next release.

Website
bandmix.com

Resource of the Day: Twitter.com

Now this is a very interesting concept and was drawn to it because Henry Rollins uses it and found my self rather entertained by his entries. Basically twitter is a site that lets you send a message out to everybody that is viewing you, whether by your phone or through the website.

Just another way to stay in contact with your fan base

twitter.com

Now get twittering!

Resource of the Day - Music Submit Writer edition

A sister site of the post from a couple days ago. Have someone draw you up some fancy PR text and make yourself look like the shiznit!

Link
Music Submit - Writer Edition

Resource of the Day - BroadTexter

Keep in mobile communication with your fan base.

Website
http://www.broadtexter.com/?gad=CN2B3ZMDEgg8VvZzIFCqcBjrzZz8AyDJ6aQk

Resource of the Day - Friend Bot

This resource is a compliment to the myspace strategy. Essentially it allows you to pull from a certain demographic or a bands page and then send add messages to these lists. Very effective tool for exposing people to your music and your myspace page. It is essentially the equivelent of leaving a flyer on someones door, though some people see it as spam. I am on the side of the flyer philosophy.

Recommendations.

1. Start with the bands list, typically these people are more into music than your average myspace joe.
2. Focus on your local demographic, say within 20 miles of residence or where the band thinks it is centered.
3. Make sure you check the box that makes sure you don't send duplicate adds, this can piss people off pretty quick.
4. For saftey limit add requests to 300 a day, keeps you off the myspace radar.

Disclaimer, don't blame me if you account gets frozen because you got to hyper with the resource!


Website
friendbot.com

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 - News blogs

This is sneaky, but if you feel political or just like to comment on things, find your local news websites and blogs and see if they allow you to post comments to stories. I usually like to sign off a comment with mysticnation.info as my signature

Just another way at getting the name out, of course this assumes that you read a couple of the other blogs and have your website up and running. Otherwise, just leaving the band name as your signature works.

Tip: dont associate you band with hot buttons or if you feel the need to be abrasive, use a different alias than your bands to cause Chaos, unless you are into that kind of thing.

An example of a site that let's you do this:

Website

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