August 24, 2009 Proper care and maintenance of networking sites
Networking sites are great promotional tools. Everyone from the indie artist to the artist who has a massive advertising and marketing budget has one. But when is it time for house cleaning? When is it time for certain things to go away? A good deal of what is posted is unimportant, boring and, let’s face it, stupid. Now, if you’re just another face on Facebook or Twitter, it doesn’t really matter. However, if you are an artist, a band or someone who is trying to promote and market, those little stupid updates can harm you more than help you.
So what is the answer?
Simple. Do some housecleaning now and then and make sure you are providing the information, the image and the promotional materials that will reach the most people in the best way. Be smart in a world of social networking. Twittering, face booking and whatever other term you can come up with where people are putting out the dumbest information that might only apply to the fewest people and end up causing the most problems and over all disinterest possible.
Thanks, but no thanks for your dumb%## update.
I just had a coffee. I just ate a sandwich. Fine, well this is me caring.
Wait. No. No, I really don’t care and, as hard as it may be to accept, most people are with me on that fact. You had food. Congrats. Most of us get the opportunity to eat three times a day. So what is so special about you? Because you play a band, this makes a boring fact interesting all of the sudden? No.
Even worse is the fact that some artists with the super egos actually think their fans want to hear they bought a Snickers bar but wishes they could have a Kit Kat. Leave the updates for solid information that is more about the band, the members, even places where you went by telling something interesting.
Purple Luggage - No shirt
For example: A band on the road is staying in a bunch of hotels. This is obvious, boring and the usual. So putting up some update that says you are in a Best Western is Richmond, Virginia is not that cool, not that hip and not that interesting. Now if you can spice it up with something different that you saw happening or take a picture of something out of the ordinary, then you are bringing something to the table.
I saw an update where an artist said he walked out of his hotel room in a certain city and saw a man dragging three purple suit cases with no shirt on. He took a picture of this incident and then posted the picture with the caption:
Just checked in to X hotel in X city after X band name played a fun show in X city. Heading out for ice and we saw this. (referring to the picture) Is this normal for this city?
That is a great post. First off he mentions the city, the band name, the fact they did a show and displays the information, but adds the interest of something a bit different. Plus, he added a photo and, lastly, he posed a question to get people to potentially interact, tell their stories about this city or where they might have seen something like it before. That is strong updating and network site marketing. Get it?
The simple logic and best approach
The simplest approach is usually the right one when it comes to these sites. Are you posting daily and, if so, are you only posting once a day? Think about it. How many friends on these networks do you have that post way too many times with way too much stuff you don’t even care about? Do you want to be viewed that way? Or would it be a better approach to put up something strong, promotional, something that will capture someone’s attention and maybe get them to visit your page on a daily basis? I think that is simple, logical and down right smart.
Did you put up a video? An audio sample? A blog post? Maybe some of your lyrics? How about some pictures from a recent show? Any and all of those would be effective and work. How about making a schedule for what you put up? Blog posts on Monday, audios on Tuesday and so forth. Give people a reason and a desire to visit your page.
Housecleaning
Clean house now and then. Look through all the stuff that has been posted. Can some of it come down to call attention to more important or better posts? It can be fun to put up funny videos, jokes, stupid experiences or whatever, but it can be more effective to take that stuff down occasionally so the more pertinent stuff gets more of the spotlight.
Even if you put up some stupid stuff, here is your chance to take it down. People may be breezing or scanning through your information. Is it the information that is good for a new friend or a close personal friend? Make the decision and choose the right choice if you get what I mean. Clean out excess comments so when someone comes to your page, they can scroll and see the most of your posts and what you are putting up instead of a couple posts and tons of people putting their posts under them. This page is about you. It is good to get comments, but if some are more personal in nature or just spam, pull them off.
New Fans and Friends
Imagine that someone is coming to your page for the first time. They maybe clicked on a link from someone else that is your friend and they are just checking you out with no prior knowledge of you. Wouldn’t you want to capture their attention, impress them, make them want to listen to your music, look at your pictures and add themselves as a new fan? I would think so.
Conclusion
Review your pages frequently. Remove activity blocks such as so and so has been added as a friend or you commented on this picture or you joined this group. All those blocks take up real estate that could be used for you and showcasing the things you want people to see. Keep the updates that stand the test of time and stand to help bring in fans, but get rid of the excess stuff. Use the page to market yourself, your music and your message. Don’t set up mafia wars, trade presents or any other application that has nothing to do with your music. If you want those, put them on your personal page. Leave the music page for your existing fans, but also use it to grow brand new ones, as well as fans that might only come to you through links on your networks. Showcase yourself like you are reaching out to everyone professional and effectively. In turn, you will draw more interest and keep more people on the page. Interested individuals will be able to easily find out more about you and maybe become a fan. Isn’t that why you put up the page in the first place?
© 2009 Loren Weisman
www.braingrenademusic.com
Watch out for Loren Weisman’s “Realistic Music Careers 101 Seminar” coming to a city near you and Loren’s book “The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business” coming in 2010.
Reader Comments (4)
I have a Twitter account. And by your standards, I do post a lot of unimportant things there. And while I'm not currently in a band, I do also post to Twitter about other projects I'm working on. I think that if you use a service like Twitter to only post about *important updates* (or whatever you'd like to call them), then you're just making your Twitter account another part of your blast-marketing machine. Just like e-mail newsletters or blog posts. And that seems impersonal at least and possibly redundant at best. I think a good strategy for a service like Twitter is to just post what you want. Be human. Have fun. Some people out there really are interested in what others are having for breakfast. Or maybe, that's just me.
Sample schedule! How does this work in practice?
How many followers do you have on Twitter? Oh yeah, 43. Physician, heal thyself.
Great points! I won't feel so guilty anymore when I delete useless comments. Also, I didn't realize I could delete old tweets. I'll clean up now. I've certainly had my fair share of inanity.