March 23, 2010 How To Make Your SXSW Sticky! Advice From The Indie Max 100 Experts on How To Keep Your Conference Alive
So you FINALLY went to SXSW, and now after days of music, food, panels and networking (*phew*), you’re back home. So what can you do now to maximize your time spent in Austin? Here are a few pieces of advice. Plus a few photos I took at SXSW 2010 - Full album on Facebook
AFTER YOU GET HOME
Create Your Own Lasting Media
So, no blog covered your performance? No photographer snapped your photo for Rolling Stone? That’s OK! Make your own media around your experience at SXSW. Write up a blog about what you did, and who you met, and post it on your MySpace, Facbook and Last.fm. Snap photos and post them on Facebook and Flickr with tags, or record some videos for your YouTube Channel! Let your experience live online for years to come!
- Ariel Hyatt
Get Them At Their Desks…Not At The Party
The best time to get down to business is when they’re alone, back at their desk, a week or two after the conference, undistracted, and can give you their full one-on-one attention. That’s when you want someone checking out what you have to offer: when they’re focused on you – looking at your site.
- Derek Sivers
Go Old School – Use The Phone & Stationary For Follow Ups
I have learned the strongest way to follow up is with a phone call and a hand written letter or note with material in the mail, because we are all inundated with digital communication. Suddenly a phone call is refreshing and unexpected.
- Jennie Walker
Once Home…Continue Your Relationship
I don’t hesitate to invite someone for a coffee, drink, lunch or dinner in order to discuss something further or get to build the relationship.
- Jennie Walker
It’s ALL about the follow-up
After 15 years of 100-or-so conferences, I can tell you from experience that only about 1% of the people ever follow up. Therefore, 99% of them wasted their time. Please don’t be in that 99%. It’s ALL about the follow-up. It’s ONLY about the follow-up. Remember this, and you’ll do well.
- Derek Sivers
Contributors To This List….A special thanks goes out to my Indie Max 100 peepe….who participated and shared their knowledge!
Compiled By: Ariel Hyatt is the founder of Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR a New York based digital firm that connects artists, authors and filmmakers to blogs, podcasts, Internet radio stations and social media sites. Educating musicians is her passion and her philosophy is: combine social media with Internet marketing to help artists grow their fanbases and increase their income. This is the subject of her book: Music Success in Nine Weeks which has helped hundreds of musicians navigate the Social Media landscape and it is available She is a proud contributor to Music Think Tank, an advisor to the New Music Seminar and a Board Member of SweetRelief and Soundctrl www.arielpublicity.com
Matthew Ebel is a piano rocker who’s been called a pioneer and a leader in independent music Growing up in Washington State, he began playing piano and singing at age 5 Since then he’s released multiple albums, backed up major-label stars in Nashville, and launched his own subscription site using cutting-edge technology.
www.matthewebel.net
Rick Goetz is an entertainment professional with deep roots in the music industryHe has been an A&R representative at major labels like Atlantic and Elektra, a music supervisor for independent films and national TV campaigns and has played bass for Grammy award winning musiciansHe is currently a music consultant and musician coach and can be found at
www.musiciancoaching.com
Derek Nicoletto is currently working on his first solo album due out in 2010, after two acclaimed years as lead singer and songwriter for Telling on Trixie, the “indie rock powerhouse” (Skope Magazine) Derek’s music has been featured in 11 national TV programs and commercialsHe has performed for more than 3 million people live on Sirius Radio. As a TV host, Derek has conducted hundreds of artist-on-artist interviews for MTV LOGO’s New Now Next program, ranging from Margaret Cho, Ludo, The Decemberists, Girl in a Coma and Amanda Palmer. As social media fanatic, he maintains sites on YouTube/, Facebook/, Myspace/, Twitter/dereknicoletto
www.dereknicoletto.com
Lou Plaia – After 15+ years at Atlantic and Lava Records, Lou decided to start a new style of music marketing company which required an odd blend of music expertise and technology ReverbNation launched on October 31, 2006 And it now serves 475,000+ Artists, Labels, Managers, Venues/Promoters and other Music Industry Pros with a complete solution for fan management, promotion, distribution, direct-to-fan commerce, and analytics ReverbNation’s mission is to uncover value for the musician In addition to providing core business services, we seek to create new revenue streams for its users
www.ReverbNation.com
Derek Sivers is best known as the founder of CD Baby. After he won the 2003 World Technology Award, Esquire Magazine’s annual “Best and Brightest“ cover story said, “Derek Sivers is changing the way music is bought and sold… one of the last music-business folk heroes.” In 2008, Derek sold CD Baby to focus on his new ventures to benefit musicians. His current projects and writings are all at
http://sivers.org
Jennie Walker is a New York based singer, songwriter and charity fundraiser. Her debut album, “It’s My Time” was Co-written with Tommy Faragher, Grammy Nominee and 12-time platinum selling producer. Jennie is releasing her much anticipated album on December 10, 2009 on UK based Maddie Records. When not in the studio, Jennie is active in the music industry and in non-profit and charity fundraising endeavors. She is a member of the prestigious Artists Against Hunger & Poverty Program World Hunger Year. Jennie will be donating a percentage of the proceeds of her album to WHY, The Carter Center, Columbus State University, and The Synergos Institute.
www.jenniewalker.com
Jason Walsmith is the co-founder of the band The Nadas and Authentic Records. The Nadas are a Des Moines, IA based band that have been together for16 years, touring the country and independently releasing successful recordsAuthentic Records is a cultivator of fine musical artists from the heartland and the rest of the country, who may otherwise go “under-noticed.” Authentic‘s goal is to help bring these artists‘ music to the masses, with a focus on not only building individual careers, but also building a community of artists helping artists.
www.thenadas.com
Reader Comments (3)
That's actually all REALLY good advice. Having just got back from SXSW myself, I can tell the difference the people that are contacting me just to solicit their band/label/website and the people that are looking to build a working relationship. So I'd add: keep it human. Definitely don't start spamming people with your band's newsletter!
A great tip to expose yourselves to the masses is to write a 350 word blog post, an then sign it with a 650 word promotion text!
That's the big lesson here ;-)
(good advice though)
A tip about following up: seriously, look for free software that can email you reminders to follow up with certain people again in 3 months, 6 months, etc. Just check in and touch base, ask how that project's going, what's the weather like in Houston, etc.
My new favorite tool for this is FollowUpThen, but you can use fancier stuff like Highrise or even just a Google Calendar. The key is to make it easy to schedule follow-up reminders so you don't have to keep them in your head.
(I used to do this with an appointment book. Then I'd forget to check the book. Then I'd lose the book.)
And don't forget to look for your new people on Twitter and Facebook. It's a great way to catch up with what people have been doing since the last time you touched base.