Band Promotion Tips

General Band Promotion Tips

• Call back, I am always adding to and improving the information on this page.
  Page last updated: 06:OCTOBER:2009
• Content is numero uno. The content of the website is crucial. In every Tips section you will see the phrase that goes something like "content is king", it's sometimes found as a foot note! It is infact by far the most important tip. Every visitor is important to your site, repeat visitors are vital. Returning possibly looking for additional information or to purchase your CD. The more the visitor returns the more likely they are to become part of your community and start supporting you financially. So give them plenty to read and keep the site well maintained. If the content is crap, no one is going to read it let alone return.
• Make your Band's Website a #1 Hit check list:
  
  1. Loads fast
  2. Looks good
  3. Is in character
  4. All links work
  5. Is useful
  6. Is interesting
  7. Has purpose
  8. Is different
  9. Is fun
  10. Offers an easy mailing list sign-up
  11. Does not use spurious methods for Spamming
  12. Has a clear privacy policy
  13. Offers something free
  14. CDs are easy to buy
  15. Accepts credit cards
  16. Has a newsletter
  17. Has very clear navigation
• Make your Online Press Pack a #1 Hit check list:
  
  1. Is very very easy to find
  2. Has Professional Presentation
  3. Has a concise biography of the band
  4. Press release is newsworthy
  5. Press release includes: who published it with contact data, when and where you're doing what!
  6. You are first to publish the band's news
  7. Has professional colour photos of the band
  8. Offers press release and gig dates by email/SMS
  9. Offers an easy mailing list sign-up
  10. Clear no spam Privacy Policy
  11. Very clear relevant contact details
  12. Offers some html link code to the page
  13. Includes your copyright information
  14. Offers easy access to your demo CD
• TOP TIP
  Go For An Online Z-card - Micro-Site
  An Online Z-card is a hand-coded webpage, a micro-site that contains all the relevant information from your band's website, including: Band Name, Pictures, Mini Biography / Profile, Gigs Link, Release Dates, Link to MP3 Download, Venue (You play or like most), Contact Information, Where Your Band's From, Band Members, Links (to all Your web addresses/information) and Copyright Information. It aims to be an attractive and search engine friendly landing page, i.e. how would you like to be in Google's top 5 for Rock Bands Birmingham or whatever...
  Check Out The Online Z-card Page
  
  BANDS WITH AN ONLINE Z-CARD / MICRO-SITE
  
  • 3 Kisses
  • Alexis Thompson
  • Andy Kostek
  • A New Shade
  • Color Theory
  • Emma Forman
  • Fake Gods
  • justmegan
  • Lady Rain
  • Mark Handley
  • Menendez
  • Paul Needs
  • Sheldon
  • Sisters K
  • Soul Purpose
  • Sweet City Action
  • Syruss
  • The Contortionists
  • The Humms
  • The Seasons

  Promoting...

  • BAND PROMOTERS
  • BAND WEBSITE DESIGNERS
• One of the big Internet turnoffs is "HTTP/1.0 404 Object Not Found" and there are numerous variations on that message! So if one of your pages becomes defunct but has a listing on a search engine, don't delete it, alter it or make it point to another page. You should be able to create your own 404 page, most people put an advert on it!
• A single mention of your band and URL (web address, domain name) with some editorial about you and your website in a national newspaper could bring hundreds of repeat visitors, no search engine will ever help you that much. Conventional advertising is your most valuable route and can pay humungus dividends. Most people still get the majority of their marketing messages through conventional advertising. and otherwise spread the word.
• Under Construction signs tend to be there for a long time, and are another big turnoff. Under Construction Sign = Bollox Website!

Webhosting For Bands

• Which is the best webhosting company to choose? I recommend iPowerWeb. There are four points I consider important when choosing a webhosting service: price, technical support, reliability and professionalism. iPowerWeb are top in all four. iPowerWeb have a complete solution for everyone, it's that simple. iPowerWeb. Oh, and you get a free domain name.
• Band Web Hosting - with free music promotion and marketing ideas, including articles on how to promote your band's music through your Website.

101 Band Promotion Ideas

In no particular order!

1. Join MySpace, add friends, leave comments.
2. Start a MySpace Group related to your band and/or genre.
3. Join MySpace Groups related to your genre.
4. Start a MySpace fan site to support your band - add friends, leave comments.
5. Start a MySpace fan Group to support your band.
6. Add Unsigned Band Promotion to your MySpace Friends List.
7. Rotate your band's MySpace avatar regularly.
8. Network and forge relationships with anyone in the business!
9. Tell your fans about your Website and MySpace blogs.
10. Visit and post on the same Forums and Blogs that your fans use.
11. Start a blog on your Website and MySpace. Then see: hypem.com.
12. Leave comments in blogs related to your genre.
13. Create a short, snappy signature that includes your band's name and URL for blogs and forums.
14. Answer questions in genre related forums and blogs.
15. Try using a question for the title of your forum/blog posts.
16. Use your band's name as your URL (www.YourBandName.com). If you can't get your band's name as your domain name, make your domain name short and memorable.
17. Get a .com or .co.uk URL.
18. Put your URL on everything: CD covers, CDs, videos leaflets at gigs, posters, flyers, business cards, press releases and stationary, even put it on it's own piece of paper.
19. Double check the printer got it right!
20. Put the band's name and URL clearly onto T-shirts, and make sure you always wear them.
21. Design your flyers with a simple bold image and the minimum of (easy to read) text.
22. You will have greater success and less competition if the topic/theme of your website is original!
23. Introduce a new angle, like weaving the themes of your songs into the website design, it may also help with the look and feel of the website - this is almost "branding your band".
24. Brand your band with a product that's related to your band's genre.
25. Brand your band with the help of a local fashion boutique.
26. Always wear clothes that reflect your music.
27. Get your hair re-styled - so you look different!
28. Sort out your Meta Tags. See: Meta tag generator.
29. Improve your band's opening page. See: Band promotion for unsigned bands - if you only do one thing, do this.
30. Sort out your band's name, Webhosting and Website design requirements. See: Webhosting for unsigned bands.
31. Get yourself a Website. See: A free band website template.
32. Set up a music store and sell your band's toons. See: How to make money online by selling music.
33. Create an Online Promotion Package or an Electric Promotion Kit... Whatever... See: Online Promotion Package.
34. Get the new - Genre meta tag for bands [suck it and see!]
35. Link to other bands (same genre) from your Website, blogs and forum.
36. Here is a list of where to add your band's profile and music.
37. Aim to build an online community, forums may help as they could give valuable feedback. They also may not!! I think blogs work best, combined with an email newsletter.
38. Keep it all local to start with, build a local fanbase.
39. Include a "Tell A Friend" link with your press release - easy with JavaScript.
40. Include a "Bookmark This Page" link - easy with JavaScript.
41. When asking for a link, always provide your link code.
42. Make sure your Website is easy to read (no text/background clashes).
43. Make sure your Website is easy to navigate (provide text links).
44. Create a link page to your reviews and your reviewers.
45. Speed-up the download time of your Website.
46. Try some search engine optimisation. See: band promotion for unsigned bands
47. Look for keywords related to your genre and use them on your Website.
48. Join/start a Webring related to your genre.
49. When setting promotion or marketing targets be realistic, the Web's a tough place. Recruit a promoter (fan, friend or family).
50. Create a newsletter about your band and genre. See: Band promotion by email gig newsletter
51. Write a press release and post it to www.musicmog.com.
52. Seek out, find and use young and exciting band photographers. They often work for free ;)
53. Create an extensive gallery of band photographs.
54. Start a street-team to hand out flyers, post stickers...
55. Start an e-team to spread the word about you in blogs, forums, MySpace...
56. Start a fan-club with its own Website.
57. Ask fans to submit your bloggings to Social Bookmarking Websites.
58. Ask fans to: buy your music, spread the word, tell a friend...
59. Ask your local record/music shop to give away your free CD/demo.
60. Give away free T-shirts to achieving members of your fan club.
61. Run a contest!
62. Find out where your fans are.
63. Ask your e-team to target the MySpace profiles of the bands that have influenced you.
64. Ask your e-team to target the MySpace profiles of the bands who sound like you.
65. Ask your e-team to target the MySpace profiles of music magazines.
66. Ask your e-team to target the MySpace profiles of local bands.
67. Ask your e-team to target the MySpace profiles of local organisations.
68. Do some free gigs with other local bands.
69. Make a free CD sampler with local bands of the same genre.
70. Offer free stuff that relates to your genre. Buy it cheap from eBay.
71. Non-profit organisations often need support at local events. If your band fits the bill, offer to play.
72. Tell everyone the kinds of events/gigs you're happy to play next to your contact information.
73. Offer to play at fan club members' (local) private parties, BBQs, etc.
74. Write a controversial/political song.
75. Translate your lyrics into foreign languages.
76. Publish an eBook of your lyrics, poems and photographs.
77. Make a video.
78. Put your band's video on YouTube.
79. Create a ringtone.
80. Exchange gig dates with local bands and bands of the same genre. see Syndicated Gig Listings.
81. Trade links for links. You need links.
82. Create an e-card.
83. Search Google for Websites related to your genre. See: Genre meta tag for bands.
84. Search MySpace for Websites related to your genre - add them as friends. See: Genre meta tag for bands.
85. If you're immersed in the Internet, you may have forgotten that most people still get the majority of their marketing messages through traditional channels. Post a flyer in the local shop.
86. Create a promotional message.
87. Ask your fans, friends and family to Text their friends with your: promotional message, next gig date, Website address...
88. Research your genre within Wikipedia i.e. "rock bands wiki".
89. Write a Wikipedia article about your genre, add a link to your band's Website.
90. Submit your band's Website details to Wikipedia. Don't forget DMOZ.
91. Give something away, it doesn't have to be branded. Try Mr Pound!
92. Sell cheap memory sticks of your gig.
93. Target your local press with articles, press releases, news...
94. Also try the specialist music press with same...
95. E-zines always need content, give them some.
96. Research file-sharing Websites like Napster ;D
97. Don't rely on MySpace, get a Website.
98. Start your first database/emailing list by pooling your band members' email address books.
99. Send out your first email-shot, ask everyone to buy your latest MP3 for 75p.
100. Recruit an enthusiastic aunt to look after your email list.
101. Find/seek your band's "niche" in the marketplace.
102. Create a theme for your Website and MySpace related to your niche.
103. Ask your fans, friends and family to support you.

Search Engines & Band Promotion

• Submit your band's website to the search engines, i.e. AltaVista, Excite, Google, HotBot and Lycos, etc.
• It might take time to get listed (1-2 months), keep submitting every two - three weeks.
• Don't use submission software to automatically register your website with the search engines. Go to each one and fill in the form, OK, this does take time, but it's worth it.
• Search engines like site maps with textual links.
• Don't submit the same URL more than once per day. If you hit a problem and you are not sure if your submission has been accepted, go back the next day.

Linking For Bands

• When asking for a link it's a good idea to provide the code! You can start promoting your band now by exchanging links with us, here's some code:
  
  <!-- Start of code -->
  <p><a href="http://www.unsignedbandpromotion.com/"
  target="_top">Unsigned Band Promotion</a></p>
  <!-- End of code -->
  
  Email your details to us!
• Promoting Gig Dates - add your band's gig dates to other bands' websites by using easy JavaScript, syndicated gig listings will promote your band's gigs by networking links.
• Blog etiquette: don't ask for a link, if you give one they should reciprocate and visa versa. Most bloggers keep an eye on their stats, so should you.
• A link to your website is like a vote for your website. The more votes you have the better you will do.
• Fans have websites! They will review your music and give you a link. You just have to ask.
• Don't forget content! nobody wants to link to a boring website.
• I'm not sure about webrings? Like minded websites link to the next member website along a sort of chain. The only real beneficiary is the website at the hub who is usually the one who set-up the webring in the first place! Oh, and that's you of course, don't bother joining one.
• Don't waste your time with Banners (unless you have the artistic talent to create an outstanding one). I think that most banner advertising is ineffective and isn't really worth the money. The number of people who click-through from banner advertising is getting less and less.
• Garden Lighting Berkshire - a very basic demonstration of content and linking in action with a hint of band promotion and vitriol thrown in for good measure.
• Private Health Insurance UK - another basic demonstration of content and linking in action with a hint of "The Long Tail". Be found for something else other than your band's name.

How To Make Money

• Become an affiliate for other websites and sell products and services from your website. It is a simple way to earn a little extra cash, i.e. you could sell Apple's iPod portable MP3 player! Find out how at Commission Junction
• If you run a Music Website, Earn EXTRA MONEY by joining the Easybe Affiliate Program
• Selling music online is a business. Your band is a business. Be business-like.
• To make money online your band needs: clarity (a clear objective), a strategy and focus.
• Set up a shop and sell your music downloads. It's easy with the 1-2-3 music store specially designed for independent musicians and record labels. Check them out: easybe.com
• Don't crowd your website with banners and products. Sell one or two things and sell them well.
• Don't just stick a PayPal donate button in to your website and hope for the best. Offer something for it like a link or a credit on your next album or even dedicate a track.
• Sell The Band's Merchandise at your gigs. Here's some ideas: Badges, Bumper Stickers, Caps, Hats and Visors, CDs and Demos, Drum Sticks, Fake Tattoos, Frisbees, Greeting Cards, Guitar Picks, Imprinted Bic Pens, Key-Rings, Lanyards, Lighters, Matchbooks, Mugs, Portfolio of Signed Pictures, Posters, Stickers, Sweatshirts, T-shirts, Wall Calendars, etc. For an online solution I recommend GoPromos.
• Sell The Band's Merchandise online. You can set up a shopping cart when you use iPowerWeb Hosting. The package: $7.95 per month, 500 Megs of Space, 30 Gigs of Transfer, 300 Emails + Free Setup & Free Domain Name. With: OS Commerce Shopping Cart, Agora Shopping Cart or PayPal Shopping Cart.

Email Marketing For Bands

• The Internet is the perfect place for the dissemination of information and email is at its heart. A website is the perfect place to gather fans email addresses so you can inform them of your next gig dates. Keeping your fans informed is the main action that will pay big dividends as it will increase the size of your audience.
  
  Question: What are you going to do with the email information/addresses?
  Normally they are used to send gig information, e-zines and e-newsletters!
  
  Question: How are you going to send out 5,000 emails each month?
  You need an email client to help with this! The whole thing usually comes as a package.
• You will need:
  
  • a method of collecting the Names and Email Addresses
  • a method of keeping securely and maintaining the Mailing List
  • a suitable email client to send out your emails, e-zines and e-newsletters etc.
  • an understanding of Privacy and a Privacy Policy. NEVER send Spam, have a look at: The Can-Spam Act 2003
  • The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) have an online Privacy policy generator: The DMA online Privacy policy generator
• The Do-It-Yourself-Professionally Way: get a perl script from: PerlArchive.com. You need to have an enabled Web host that can run Perl scripts.
• The Professional Solution - If You Want To Look Good: the easiest, quickest and often the most economic way to get up and running with a system that will collect the email addresses of your site's visitors (with a Join Our List sign-up) and then enable you to compile and send a compelling email newsletter or gig announcement is to get Constant Contact.
  
  You get: A customisable website visitor sign up form for your website; Professional templates (newsletters, promos, invites and more); Add a "forward to friend" to every email; Manages and hosts your subscriber list (including unsubscribe and bounce management); Automatic delivery in the correct format, HTML or text; Real-time reporting (including opens, who clicked on which links and more);
  
  Constant Contact is easy and affordable, you can even try it for free as they offer a 60 day free trial, which I think is worth a go.
  
  Click here to sign up for your Free trial with Constant Contact
  
  
• The Free Method :) onelist.com, yourmailinglistprovider.com and bravenet.com all give a free service, but personally, I'm not keen on the advertising, of course you can remove the ads with cash. Google Groups and Yahoo Groups are also a free way to start, but they do not look very professional.
  
  This is the way I'd start to collect email addresses from your fans: include an email form on your band's website using simple HTML. Here is the code, just copy and paste to where you want it:
  
  <!-- JOIN YOUR-BAND-NAME'S MAILING LIST -->
  <form method="post" action="mailto:your@email.address?subject=Join Mailing List" enctype="text/plain" onsubmit="window.alert('This is an Email Form. You may need to press SEND in your email client')">
  <input type="hidden" name="sauce" value="website">
  <input type="hidden" name="flavour" value="subscribe to mailing list">
  <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="220" border="0">
  <tr><td align="center"><p>JOIN OUR MAILING LIST</p></td></tr>
  <tr><td><p>Enter your name:<br>
  <input type="text" name="name" value="" size="25" maxlength="100"></p></td></tr>
  <tr><td><p>Enter your email address:<br>
  <input type="text" name="email" value="" size="25" maxlength="100"></p></td></tr>
  <tr><td align="center"><input type="submit" value="Submit">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a title="unsubscribe from the band-name's mailing list" href="mailto:your@email.address?subject=Unsubscribe From Mailing List">unsubscribe</a></td></tr>
  </table></form>
  <!-- END OF YOUR-BAND-NAME'S MAILING LIST -->
  
  
  • Obviously you need to include Your Email Information and Your Style (CSS) ;) The mailing list form sends you an email. In fact it works exactly the same as clicking on an email link. The person who fills in the form with their name and email address, will understand as they proceed.
  • This is what the received email will look like:
    sauce=website
    flavour=subscribe to mailing list
    name=Joe Bloggs
    email=their@email.address
  • The fan who just subscribed to your mailing list is HOT, and is the most receptive to buying a CD or merchandise, so always reply straight away to their request with details of how to purchase your products and/or your next gig info. etc.
  • Protect your mailing list - it is pure gold. Don't give out their details to anyone. Send the emails individually or use the BCC option in your email client and always include a signature with how to unsubscribe.
• In The Real World: provide a simple form at gigs to collect: name, address, phone number (for SMS) and email address.
• A website and an email newsletter go together like Rock and Roll.

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