Social Networking (Advice from Ariel Hyatt)

My notes from the CD BABY PODCAST #029: Ariel Hyatt - Social Networking Online (re-organized, no necessarily in order)

Participation is MANDATORY! You need to have a PRESENCE, even if you don’t spend loads of time.

Your fans WANT to connect with you! When you don’t social network, you’re not allowing them to connect with you. (whether you have 10 or 10,000)

Making a community online BEFORE meeting them VS. bringing people INTO an online community after meeting them (i.e. at a show)? Be human! Remember that fans want to connect with the random/cool/silly/deep/hobby things about you rather than just you with your marketing hat on.

Larry Sharp: (“How to Make Sales” coach) “Be a Shark in a Sea of Tuna”. Get OUT of your comfort zone, not just hang around musicians, but try some other kind of COMMUNITY that you could relate to personally, and also offer your music services. i.e. go to a food convention to meet restaurant owners, etc. Get creative! REMEMBER its good to put yourself in the position where you’re the ONLY one who does something in a group instead of one of many, because then people in that group will consider you the go-to guy/girl when they need that particular service.

Spyder X (software for Mac ~ $30) – Myspace Friend Adder Bot to find people who have particular interests in particular locations. i.e. find people in DE who say they’re into “The Clash” or interested in gardening, etc.

Social networking is not about YOU! You have to make it about others—whats in it for them? That is how you develop community.


APPROACHING SOMEONE ONLINE

Figure out who you’re trying to approach? i.e. men, women, Jewish, they like Feist, etc.

Making April (Band): Selling 1000 tracks on iTunes/week JUST from Myspace. (article on Ariel's site)
-Identified short list of bands like them (popular)
-Went to those band’s sites, said hi to fans (use their name!), we noticed you’re a big fan of…“people have said we sound like…” “pease come check us out!” *People always believe what OTHER people say about you than what YOU say about yourself (other people say” part is important)
-Daily Bulletin list – every day a silly question – people will interact!
-IM – kept IM open, people will chat
*NOTE TO SELF – maybe try a regular time weekly or something? Video chat? Even ½ hour? “Come and IM me and get…?”
-Had lots of music available for free download. After 18 months, had made a lot of friends by now, took free downloads away, and directed fans to iTunes.

Social Networking should be used to BUILD a list of people who will buy from you in the FUTURE! You need to communicate and get people to trust you before asking for a sale.

You should use ALL of them (as many social networking sites as you can), even if you use certain ones a lot more. ESPECIALLY b/c there are lots of tools you can use to interconnect them (i.e. post a message from twitter to facebook, etc.)

Utterz (Voice Blogging System) [now utterli.com] – call in, talk, record your voice, and put it immediately on your blog! Also announces on Twitter.

Fav 6 FB Apps. (article on Ariels site)

9 Steps to Music Success by Ariel

Lots of articles on Ariel’s site

*NOTE TO SELF – RESEARCH HOW TO USE TWITTER BETTER

Don’t necessarily just look to the BIGGEST sites with millions of people. You might have the best luck at a smaller site that will connect you with the right people for your music and gain you more VALUABLE fans. (Niche marketing) i.e. – Christian communities? WHO would be interested in your kind of music, and WHERE are you most likely to find them?


HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO GO TO YOUR SITES:
-Leave “breadcrumbs”
-Links on CDs, Website, POSTCARDS (hand out at gigs) give out pieces of you, led back to you.
-AT shows: bring clipboard w/ mailing list sign-up. BRIBE them onto your list! (Biz Kicks cards?) free single? – or raffle?
-Before about to play, have people TEXT you – start a text messaging list.
-Mozes.com(free fan-based text massaging email list!)
*BEFORE YOU START PLAYING AT A SHOW – “Please shut off your phones, but before you do, TEXT ME your info and next time I have a show I’ll text you!

Raffle – hold up prize – collect biz cards, or have them fill out a form. Have winner come up on stage and collect their prize!


MYSPACE

-Myspace – 100 million active users
-Guaranteed delivery of MESSAGES (as opposed to lost emails etc.)
-You CAN use myspace to create authentic relationships!
-BUT study, there is some METHOD!
-Bob Baker – Myspace Marketing Guide (interviews a lot of artists)
-Google effective Myspace marketing tips
-Google did a study – the average person waits 3.5 seconds before moving on. Be careful that you don’t have too much on your page to lower loading times.
-Keep it simple and streamlined. Have a LINK to YOUTUBE rather than filling the page with videos.
-Try to make it match your WEBSITE! Make them feel like it runs together.


FACEBOOK

-Much harder to find people that you DON’T know, but the friends in your FB community tend to be much more real. (no bots, etc.)
-Dependable, loads quickly, etc.