In Defense of 1,000 True Fans – Part XII - How Kat Parsons Has Built Her Mailing List to Over 10,000 Strong

I met Kat Parsons through a mutual friend and she hired us to write a full marketing plan for her. After working closely with her, I thought she would be the perfect addition to the 1000 True Fans series! By putting a strong focus on building her mailing list and genuine engagement through social media, Kat has been able to take the big leap into becoming a full-time musician. Her understanding of building long-lasting relationships with her fans has helped her to build a sustainable career in the music industry, and it is one worth discussing, so enjoy!

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: The Viral Power of Fan Communication and more

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud

• Simon Tam: New Ways to Think About Facebook Timeline for Bands
• Alex Hoffman: The Viral Power of Fan Communication: A Case Study On Fleet Foxes
• Leena Sowambur: How To Talk To Strangers  
• Chris Robley: How Flexible Pricing Can Help You Sell More Merch
• Simon Tam: How to Handle Problems in the Band

How to Handle Problems in the Band

Problems: they happen sooner or later.

Every group will go through some kind of major disagreement that could possibly dismantle the band. Huge levels of success won’t solve those issues; in fact, they tend to sharpen those differences even if you are bound my family (just look at the Kings of Leon or Oasis). So how do you handle those problems or minimize the damage?

Here are some tips to reduce the heat of the situation in your band:

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How Flexible Pricing Can Help You Sell More Merch

This article originally appeared on CD Baby’s DIY Musician Blog.

Why the Value of Your Merch Changes Every Day

Let’s say you just started a hot-sauce business. The price of your product probably changes depending on the buyer; lower-end grocery stores, shi-shi markets, restaurants, and direct customers on your website will all pay a little something different for the same mouth-burning sensations— to say nothing of the folks who will try free samples at the store.

Musical products aren’t that different; the value of your merch changes from gig to gig, and should (or could) be priced accordingly. This is NOT “Name-Your-Price,” but an alternate system where the band and manager keep the context of the concert in mind when setting today’s “market price.” And unlike fish, your music won’t grow stale,… right?

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How To Talk To Strangers

Networking online or in person (eventually it is necessary to do in person) involves talking to complete random strangers. People you don’t know, people who might be untrustworthy, people who might have an agenda, people who might take from you, people who might steal from you, people who might harm you. We don’t like talking to strangers. Strangers are bad. Strangers will hurt you. Strangers have negative associations. Yet we are all strangers to other people.

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The Viral Power of Fan Communication: A Case Study On Fleet Foxes

It’s always exhilarating finding stories like this that validate the lessons we so often, teach, learn, and debate here on MTT. This story in particular, highlights the power of conscientious direct-to-fan (D2F) communication on the part of Fleet Foxes’ front man, Robin Pecknold.  

If Grammy awards were given to artists DIY’ing it each year, Pecknold would win the award for “Outstanding Performance In D2F Communication”. Pecknold’s proclivity for treating fans like friends recently went viral when a fan of his enthusiastically wrote the following post on reddit:

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New Ways to Think About Facebook Timeline for Bands

The Facebook timeline requirement for pages has been looming for a while and now that it is a requirement, many artists have been wondering how to take advantage of the new features. While I won’t go into the detailed steps about it (there are plenty of other blogs that do that), I did want to offer some unconventional advice. Creating a niche marketing approach through a unique experience for your fans is the best way to grow your audience organically. 

Here are some of my tips:

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: 10 Sales Tips For Artists and more

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud

• IndieAmbassador.com: Buzz: There’s More to a Free Music Campaign than Free Music…
• Bobby Owsinski: 10 Sales Tips For Artists
• Jamie Leger: The Successful DIY Indie Artist Series - Project
• Ariel Hyatt: 7 Questions For A Real Live Music Supervisor Sarah Gavigan of Get Your Music Licensed

Ariel Hyatt: 7 Questions For A Real Live Music Supervisor Sarah Gavigan of Get Your Music Licensed

I’m kinda obsessed with how artists make money mostly because artists constantly ask me how they can make more of it.

Several weeks ago, we proudly blogged in support of The Future of Music’s incredible undertaking Artist Revenue Streams, which is a must read for any artist looking to monetize their music.

The FMC has begun to release the results of their in-depth study and they have identified 42 ways artists can earn money.

Numbers 5 & 6 on the list are:

5. Composing Original Works for Broadcast (an original jingle, soundtrack, score, or other musical work for a film, TV or cable show, or an ad agency…)

6. Synch Licenses (Typically involves licensing an existing work for use in a movie, documentary, TV, video game, internet, or a commercial).

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The Successful DIY Indie Artist Series - Project

There’s too much back and forth about who’s finding success and why in the DIY independent artist scene, so i’ve decided to go out and do some deep investigative research to pull all the info i can together, and focus on deep patterns and strategies across several facets of how successful DIY’ers have put their career together, what they’re doing, how they manage it, and hopefully uncover what some of the underlying reasons why it’s all working for them, are.

Purpose = Going beyond “surface level” exploration, research, and interviews, on the successful indie artists and bands that are thriving today. Cluster and define correlations and key strategies that are common and prevalent, as well as highlight the business models that are working today. Get candid and get to the “core” of what actually is THE THING that is making some people succesful today and why as Independent artists in the new music business…

There’s a lot of doom and gloom out there… There are a lot of skeptics, naysayers, and doubting thomases out there that perpetuate a vibe of hopelessness in regards to the DIY movement… This is not only unhealthy but destructive, and it ain’t where or what we should be focusing on.

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10 Sales Tips For Artists

When it comes right down to it, we’re all selling something. Every day, we’re selling our products, services, brand and our personal selves over and over again. As an artist or band, you have to be aware that sales are a big part of your equation for success. Here are 10 sales tips that can help you not only increase your revenue, but your fan base as well.

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Buzz: There's More to a Free Music Campaign than Free Music...

You’ve done it again. You’ve given away a free track from your latest album. It’s on your website. You’ve talked about it on Facebook. Job done, you think. Well think again. There’s no doubt about it. Free music is a powerful marketing tool. However, the music industry has become so over-saturated with free music that we’ve become desensitized to the process of consuming, promoting, and thinking about the importance of free music. This age-old debate has become, well, old.

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: Five Bucks and more

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud

• Scott Honsberger: Five Bucks
• Adam Bernard: Fan Friction - How The Internet is Failing Artists by Adam Bernard
• Daren Smith: How To Sound Better Live
• Ariel Hyatt :Ariel Hyatt’s Social Media Food Pyramid

Ariel Hyatt's Social Media Food Pyramid

YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA FOOD PYRAMID

With social media growing at such a rapid pace, I decided it was a good idea to revisit my social media food pyramid and update it for 2012.

So…

Here’s Your Social Media Food Pyramid

It happens to me all of the time when I teach artists social media.The face goes blank, the frustration begins to settle in and then the artist says it:

“I just don’t have anything interesting to say.”

REALLY?

I’m shocked by this every time.  You are an artist; you do things we mere mortals are totally enamored by: you PLAY MUSIC, you write songs, you perform them in public!

So PUHLEEASE, do not tell me you have nothing interesting to say. I ain’t buying it.

All you are missing is a System for Social Media Success.

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