Author David Meerman Scott made an honest and realistic quote, “if you want 20,000 fans you must do 2000 different things that each generate 10 fans.” This was my favorite quote from 2010 and I am going to take this on as a challenge for 2011 for an ambitious project to give you 2000 different things you can do to generate 20,000 fans.

Some of these items will apply better for larger acts, some items will work for any act. Some may work for you, some may not… not yet. Some these can be done with little effort, some will take some web development, some might even require some significant development. Some of these have successfully worked for me over the years. The point is to create a list of items that would cover a wide range of acts and abilities.

The end result of all this will hopefully be more Facebook likes, Twitter followers, email list subscriptions, more sales and more traffic to your website… more fans!

2000 Things to Generate 20,000 Fans Challenge

25. Give a Musical History Tour

I love when inspiration for 2000 things you can do to generate 20,000 fans comes from everyday life. I was meeting with a prospective client last week and we were discussing a content strategy for his website. This client is a well known and well respected guitarist, session player and instructor who has played with some very big musicians. He is also a long time resident of Marin County in Northern California. Marin Country may not be as well known as say Hollywood, but it has always been a major location for music. To name just a few names that have come from this region, and even still reside…. Journey, Night Ranger, Sammy Hagar, Carlos Santana, oh and the entire San Francisco sound of the sixties. Anyway as we were talking I said he should do a musical history tour of Marin County. I was trying to think of ways to get the non-guitar player interested in visiting his website. I always see that as key, you need to get casual, non-hardcore fans interested in what you are doing. Well this client knows all the history… venues, studios, homes for the musicians past and present in Marin Country. Cool stuff like that house where Janis Joplin once lived. He even has access to old photos and video. This is content that the average music fan would love, especially if they are familiar with Northern California. So we brainstormed on putting together a musical history tour.

Think about this for wherever you live. There is always history. Maybe you know the places and people who made that history. Talk about it, maybe take a few pictures or some video. This is the type of local and regional story that newspapers and TV love. You might even be able to get yourself a story in your local media. Just talk about what you know and show everyone what has happened in the past.

I even own a book The L.A. Musical History Tour: A Guide to the Rock and Roll Landmarks of Los Angeles that is a great example of a guide to local music history.

View the single list of all 2000 items at this location.

Posted By: Michael Brandvold (Michael is a 20 year music marketing veteran who has worked with unsigned indie bands and international superstars. Michael owns Michael Brandvold Marketing a site dedicated to providing tips and advice for musicians.)