Recording - August 2010 - 45

Continued from page 42 pollinate. It’s the way you sort of integrate these things … one of the ways.

Ariel: I think Deb was really on to something
when she talked about niche marketing. My company exclusively does Internet marketing and promotion. When artists come to us and they’re confused and overwhelmed and they don’t like all of these sites that, unfortunately, we all need to be on consistently for results, is they haven’t thought about the audience that they’re trying to attract. And it’s true, the audience is not everyone, although, everyone is on Facebook. So the question is, “Who is your audience?” And I think a very good way of identifying them is— especially if you play out—look into the audience. Another great way to identify them is most probably look at yourself in the mirror— you’re probably somewhat like your fans if they’re resonating with you and your music and how you write and speak. But on top of that, good marketing, after you’ve identified your core audience, is actually being a contribution to them. Good marketing is not about, “Hey, come check me out, I’ve got a thing… Me, me, me.” Good marketing is, “How do I give back to this community? What are they interested in?” If they like me and I sound exactly like Elysian Fields or Depeche Mode, maybe if I shared a story about what’s happening with Depeche Mode’s new album release, that might make my fan base feel more connected to me. Maybe if I see a video on YouTube, maybe it’s got nothing to do with music or my music, but it’s inspirational to me, or it’s funny, or it touches me in some way and I share it with my audience and they like it, they’ll resonate with me in a way that’s not, “Hey, come check me out,” but it’s about, “Hey, let’s bond together.” So I think if you can be a contribution in some form or fashion that’s not all about you, you can really be very successful with your marketing. In keeping with that, Ariel, I know you’ve written many articles, and you are also the author of Music Success in Nine Weeks. What do your readers say back to you that has been the most helpful thing for them in terms of internet marketing that they have gotten from either an article that you’ve written or a book. Ariel: I think the biggest problem with the Internet in general is that there are really two conversations happening on it. There is social media, which is Twitter and Flickr and LinkedIn, and this one and that one—oh my God, I can’t even keep up—and there’s Facebook and Fan Page and Personal Page and all these exhausting things. And those are the places where we’re creating community; these are the places where we are messaging each other. If

you search hashtags/TAXI Road Rally, there are hundreds of us on Twitter right now tweeting about our experiences here. That has to be in your mind separated from the actual money-making and marketing side. So something to keep in mind— and this is where I do get a lot of thank yous in my book—if you’re down the rabbit hole on MySpace and Facebook and friending and commenting and saying nice things to people—all of that’s important—but no one is at MySpace or Facebook or Twitter with their credit cards out. So, if your goal is to sell your music, you need to bring that piece of it in, and where people’s credit cards are out are at iTunes, at Amazon, at CD Baby. And their credit cards are also out when you send a newsletter with a call to action asking for money. So I think it’s understanding the differences between communicating something useful like a TED talk, or a link to

a video, or the funny thing we were talking about at dinner, versus… If any of you are on my email list, I released my new book this week, the second edition. I sent a special announcement this week saying that my book is ready. Now I am not sharing happy videos with you, I am now asking you to buy my book. And it’s OK that I did that, because for the last two years you’ve been on my list, and I’ve been giving you articles and tips and cute video links. So, to strike a balance between social media networking and bonding on these websites, which is relevant and important for making community, it is a very different conversation from building your newsletter list—which, if you guys do not have a newsletter list, you are ripping yourselves off—and then asking for money only after value is built. So I think those are the two main principals that I get thanked for.

Recording - August 2010

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