Have you caught any of the Music Success Radio episodes?
Music Success Radio is a radio show that provides musicians and music entrepreneurs with practical tips on music promotion, marketing and branding.

Tune in to learn free tips that will help you sell more music, get more fans, and more music exposure!

Listen to  the latest episode of Music Success Radio here:

First, what is a brand?

A brand is your unique promise of value. What do I mean by that? Your brand is a promise that you make to your fans, to everyone who listens to your music and interacts with you. A brand is really what makes you unique, what you can offer that separates you from everyone else. It is a promise of the results that you can deliver.

What does this mean for musicians? Your brand is the TRANSFORMATION, the results, the experience that people have when listening to YOUR music.

Most musicians do not have a brand. They try to hard to sound and look like other artists or they compare themselves to other artists. It is okay to do this when you are trying to explain your style or genre of music, but you want to make sure that you are communicating to others what makes you unique.

HOW TO CREATE A BRAND

The first to creating a brand is to get clear on what makes you unique as an artist. Here are some questions
that can help you:

1) What transformation or experience do you offer to the people who are listening to your music?

2) What value does your music have in society? What benefit will people get from listening to your music?

3) What positive effect does your music have on others? Is this effect unique or are there other artists whose
music has the same effect on your target audience?

Remember your brand has to be desirable, deliverable, and differentiating. People have to want what your music can offer. You have to be able to deliver that unique value to your fans, and what you offer has to be unique from other musicians.

DISCOVER THE OTHER 7 MOST COMMON MUSIC MARKETING MISTAKES IN THE FREE MUSIC SUCCESS TOOLKIT!! GET YOUR FREE TOOLKIT BY CLICKING HERE: MUSIC SUCCESS

What is the key to getting more people to buy your music? Creating irresistible offers! What are irresistible offers? An irresistible offer is one that
gives the consumer a high perceived return on investment. This just means that it is an offer that addresses a core need of the consumer and has high value.  It is an offer that has convinced and “pre-sold” the consumer on the credibility and believability of the benefits that the product is marketing. How do you create irresistible offers with your music? Offer limited time only discounts/special prices, special limited edition albums, music packages and bundles. You should offer music packages and products that provide additional value to your fans.

The key to making an offer irresistible is that it has to be something that the people want and it has to address a need that they have. Your music has to address a need that your fans have and you have to position it in that way. Most musicians make the mistake of offering music
bundles that provide music and a t-shirt. A t-shirt is no longer good enough. A t-shirt does not add additional value to your music. You want to make sure that the additional bonuses that you offer in your package adds to and enhances your fans experience of your music. What are some examples? You can offer music video trailers, music videos, mini-movie, e-book based on your album, concert tickets, private parties/sessions, access to recording sessions, etc. You also have to remove almost all of the risk for the purchaser of your music. What do I mean by that? One of the fears that stop people from purchasing a product is that they may not like it. You have to make your offer so irresistible that it reduces that fear. One way you can reduce this fear is by offering one of the music packages that I just mentioned. If people want a product bad enough, if they believe that it is something that they need, they will accept the risk in making the purchase.

You can also reduce the perceived risk by providing testimonials of people who have listened to your music as social proof that your music is good. You should put these testimonials on your sales page. You can also reduce the perceived risk of purchasing your music by providing short preview samples of each song on your album.

To learn more about music marketing, don’t forget to check out the earlier Indie Music Marketing series featured on this blog: Indie Music Marketing

Need to sell more music? These Music Street Team Marketing videos will show you how to build  a strong street team that will help you sell more music and get more people to your shows: Music Street Team

I wanted to share with you one quick tip for selling more of your music as an indie musician.

Are you ready? You have to expose your music to more people.
I know what you are probably saying: That’s common sense Angela.
I already knew that. It is very obvious but I can’t tell you
how many indie musicians I see who are not exposing their music
to enough people.

There are many reasons why you may not be selling as much of your
music as you would like.These reasons could be: you are not making
enough great music, you are not exposing your music to enough people,
you are not exposing your music to the RIGHT people, or you are not
selling your music at the right price.

I want to focus on more exposure in this email. One of the most challenging
things for indie musicians is getting massive exposure. You are a new artist
and you don’t have the benefit of a huge record label marketing team pushing
your music.

If you are an indie musician, then you probably do not have
a HUGE marketing budget to market your music. Am I right?

You probably don’t have a HUGE marketing budget to hire
expensive marketing consultants and music promotion companies
to do your marketing for you. Am I right?

So, how do you get more exposure as an indie musician, without
paying a lot of money? You build a STRONG street team. A strong street
team can help you sell more of your music and even get paying crowds to your
live shows, and check this out: for very little cost to you!!! That is gold
to an indie musician.

You have to know how to build a strong street team that can go out and market
your music to the RIGHT people. You have to know how to train your street team.

2010 is almost over and I want to ask you a couple of questions. Where are you now in your
music career? How much progress have you made as a musician this year? Are you
in the same spot today as you were last year? Have you made more money as an indie
musician this year than last year? Are you satisfied with the amount of music sales
that you’ve made and the number of fans that you have?

Unfortunately, a lot of indie musicians go from year-to-year with the same dreams and hopes
and do not see them materialize. There are people who are waiting to hear the music that
you have. There are music lovers and musicially-challenged people like me who rely on
music every day to get through life! We need music! We need your music, especially if it’s great
music. You need to get your music in front of more people and you need a street team to do this.

I am passionate about helping you build a successful music career in 2011 and
helping you achieve the goals and the income that you have always said that you wanted
to make from your music, but haven’t made yet.

It is time to start seeing some real income from your music!

To help you, I am excited to announce a special offer for the
3M Street Team Marketing Plan Audio Series. For a
limited time only, the 3M Street Team Marketing Plan
Audio Series will be available for 50% off the regular price.

The regular price for the audio series is $19.99, but for a limited
time only, the 3M Street Team Marketing Plan Audio Series will be
available for only $9.99.

In this audio series, you will learn how to build, manage, and motivate
a street team. In this series, discover:

-the 3 best places to look to recruit and fill your street team with people who
will be excited to join your street team and market your music
-how to train your street team to increase your music sales and increase attendance
at your live shows
-how to avoid low performance from your street team
-the secret strategy to attracting a HUGE number of people who will come to you and
ask you to be a part of your street team
-how to maintain the energy and excitement of your street team members

The audio series consists of three mp3s, three bonus action guides, and a bonus
audio on how to create an awesome live show that attracts large, paying crowds and the
attention of the media.

If you purchase the audio series before Friday, December 3, 2010, I will include another
bonus audio, SMART Networking: How to Network at Music Conferences.

If you are serious about building a strong street team that will help you sell more music and
get more people to your shows, then you need to purchase the 3M Street Team Marketing Plan Audio
Series.

Remember, the 50% off sale is only good until Friday, December 17, 2010. If you want to get the
bonus SMART Networking audio, then you will need to purchase the audio series by Friday, December 3, 2010.

To purchase the audio series, go to: http://www.musicsuccesscoach.com/offer/

To your success in 2011!

I am excited to announce a special offer for the
3M Street Team Marketing Plan Audio Series. For a
limited time only, the 3M Street Team Marketing Plan
Audio Series will be available for 50% off the regular price.

The regular price for the audio series is $19.99, but for a limited
time only, the 3M Street Team Marketing Plan Audio Series will be
available for only $9.99.

In this audio series, you will learn how to build, manage, and motivate
a street team. In this series, discover:

-the 3 best places to look to recruit and fill your street team with people who
will be excited to join your street team and market your music
-how to train your street team to increase your music sales and increase attendance
at your live shows
-how to avoid low performance from your street team
-the secret strategy to attracting a HUGE number of people who will come to you and
ask you to be a part of your street team
-how to maintain the energy and excitement of your street team members

The audio series consists of three mp3s, three bonus action guides, and a bonus
audio on how to create an awesome live show that attracts large, paying crowds and the
attention of the media.

Another bonus: If you purchase the audio series before Friday, December 3, 2010, I will include another
bonus audio, SMART Networking: How to Network at Music Conferences.

If you are serious about building a strong street team that will help you sell more music and
get more people to your shows, then you need to purchase the 3M Street Team Marketing Plan Audio
Series.

Remember, the 50% off sale is only good until Friday, December 17, 2010. If you want to get the
bonus SMART Networking audio, then you will need to purchase the audio series by Friday, December 3, 2010.

Click here to purchase the audio series Music Street Team Sale

Join me next Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 8:00PM CST/9:00 PM EST for the free teleseminar, “How to Manage A Street Team”.

In this teleseminar, I will be sharing:

-How to get more free time to make music

-The 4 biggest mistakes musicians make when managing a street team

-5 Skills that every street team leader needs to properly manage a street team

-How to train your street team to sell more of your music and get more people to your live show

This teleseminar is for you if you:

-want more free time to make music

-want your street team to sell more of your music

-want your street team to get more people to your shows

-want a more organized street team

Register Here for the free teleseminar: Manage A Street Team

Click on this link to get your free videos: Music Street Team Videos

Marketing

Marketing is about getting your target market to know who you are, what you have to offer,  why you are offering it, and why what you are offering is something they want.  Marketing is about getting your target market to know, like, and trust you. In this post, I will share some tips on how you can get your audience to know you.  I will share strategies on how you can get your music in front of the right people.

Do they know me? In order to get your target market to know you, they have to know that you exist.  Your target market need to know about you and your music.  How do you do that? You show up where they are.  You should know where your target market hangs out, what they read, where they shop, and what events they attend. You or your street team need to have a presence where your target market is at.  You can do this by performing where your target market hangs out, posting flyers where they are at, having an online presence through your website and social media sites. Your target market can also get to know you through word of mouth.  This is common with music marketing.  Most people hear about music artists for the first time from others, from their friends.  Basically, find out where your target market hangs out and show up there!

Ok, so how do you do that? Five strategies for getting in front of your target market:

1.  Online Marketing

SEO-Can they find you on google? Do you have an online presence? Do you have a website?  Does your website use keywords that your target market uses to find music online?

Video Marketing via Youtube: Youtube is the second most widely used search engine. What does that mean for you?  People are searching for music on youtube. Can your market find your music on youtube? If you don’t have a channel on youtube yet, then create one.  You want to make sure that you create titles and tags for your video that uses the same keywords that your market would use to find music on youtube.

Social Media: There are over 500 million people on Facebook, and over 100 million registered users of twitter. Do you have a twitter profile page and a facebook fan page?  How active are you on social media? Can your market find you on social media sites? Can they connect and engage with you there?

Blogs: Can your market find your music on the blogs that they read?

2. Live Shows: Are you performing and doing shows at your market’s favorite venues in your city or state?

Those are just five strategies to get you started thinking about your visibility.  How did you rate? Are you using all of these strategies?

In the next post, I will share exactly what you need to say and what you need to do once you have become visible to your target market. You will learn how to connect and engage with your fans, once you are in front of them.

Want action steps and coaching tips on how to put the strategies shared in this post into action? Sign up here for the free Music Success Strategies Newsletter that features a “Get Empowered!” section that gives you the action steps you need to move forward. Music Success Strategies Newsletter

What is the difference between marketing and promotion?

Marketing and promotion are often confused.  So here is a quick and easy way to understand the difference between marketing and promotion.

Marketing

Marketing is about getting your target market to know who you are, what you have to offer,  why you are offering it, and why what you are offering is something they want.  Marketing is about getting your target market to know, like, and trust you.

Do they know me? In order to get your target market to know you, they have to know that you exist.  Your target market need to know about you and your music.  How do you do that? You show up where they are.  You should know where your target market hangs out, what they read, where they shop, and what events they attend. You or your street team need to have a presence where your target market is at.  You can do this by performing where your target market hangs out, posting flyers where they are at, having an online presence through your website and social media sites. Your target market can also get to know you through word of mouth.  This is common with music marketing.  Most people hear about music artists for the first time from others, from their friends.  Basically, find out where your target market hangs out and show up there!

Do they like me? Ok, so once you are in front of your target market, now you have to say something or play music that they will like.  Connect with them! Engage with them! Care about them! Have a message and a purpose that resonates with them. What does that mean?  On a personal level, tell your market why you do music.  What inspires your music? What’s the mission behind your music?  On an artistic level, create music that they will like.  Marketing is about engaging and connecting.

Do they trust me? Sometimes you will find that once your target market knows you and likes you, they will probably trust you, but that is not always the case.  During this phase of marketing, your target market is thinking: “Ok, I know who you are and I like you and I like your music, but can I trust that your album or your live show is going to be as good as you say it is?”  There is a level of trust that you have to build with your potential and current fans.  If you are an established artist, your fans have to trust that your next album is as good as your first album.  If  you are a fairly new artist, your fans have to trust that your live show performance of their favorite song will be just as good as the album version.  Marketing is about building trust.

Promotion: Getting them to act.

Promotion is about behavior modification.  It’s about influencing and persuading others to act.  If you have done a successful job in your marketing, your market will say: “I know who musician X is, I like his/her music, I think the album will be amazing.” But promotion is about getting them to take the next step, getting your market to say “I am going to buy the album now.” If you are marketing a live show, you want them to say “I want to buy tickets now”.  How do you get your target market to say this?  Create compelling offers! Offer limited time only discounts/special prices, special limited edition albums, music packages and bundles.

The three biggest music marketing mistakes made by indie musicians:

1.  Not thinking like music entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs solve problems.  Entrepreneurs find problems and create products or services that solve those problems.  A music entrepreneur must do the same thing.  A music entrepreneur finds problems and creates music that solve those problems.

A lot of indie musicians do not take this approach to marketing their music.  They create music without first understanding the type of music their target audience is searching for and their audience’s struggle in finding that music.  So, your music should fill a need.  It should solve a problem of your target audience.

Indie musicians should also create music that not only solves a problem for their fans but solves the problems of the media and other professionals.  I am currently discussing this in my “Indie Music Marketing Series” here on the Music Success Blog.  The gist of this concept is to use your music to solve a problem.  For example, one problem that a small business faces is getting new customers.  As an indie musician, you should build a targeted fan base that matches the same demographic that a local small business in your area is targeting.  Now, you can approach the small business and negotiate a deal.  You agree that the small business can market its product or service to your fans if they agree to offer some discount to your fans.  This way you are forming a relationship with a business that could potentially later on agree to sponsor one of your live shows and you are providing value to your fans. Solve a problem! Be a music entrepreneur!
2.  Not Creating music for their fans

Too many indie musicians create music that they like and that they want to perform without finding out the type of music their fans want.  Indie musicians want to make music that they enjoy.  There is nothing wrong with that.  The problem is if you want people to pay for your music, you have understand the type of music they want. Indie musicians should do the market research first to understand the need in the marketplace.  What music do the people want but  are not getting?  Use the answer to that question to help you create your music.

3.  Not using marketing strategies that have worked in other industries

Too often, indie musicians only look to other musicians and music professionals to help them market their music.  There are other professionals in other industries who have successfully marketed their products and services.  Indie musicians should look to these professionals for new marketing strategies that can be applied to the music industry.  For example, information marketers and other internet marketers have learned how to get people to take action and buy products by creating compelling offers.  They use complimentary bonus products and services to get people to buy their main product.  Info marketers learn this from infomercials.  You’ve seen those late night infomercials where you get 10 bonuses for buying one product.  This marketing method works if you use it correctly.

How can musicians use this method? By offering bonus products or services when people buy your music.  Some musicians already do this by offering more free music or a t-shirt when fans buy their album.  Indie musicians can take this a step further and offer more complimentary bonuses.  With the ease and low cost of digital downloads, indie musicians can offer e-books or mini video games or mini movies that center around the theme of their album.  Think about what bonuses you can offer now that can raise the level of interaction of your fans with your music.  How can you make your music come to life with additional bonuses? Create a compelling offer that will have your fans running to purchase your music.  Observe and learn from other professionals who have been successful in getting people to buy.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree that these are the biggest marketing mistakes made by indie musicians? Let me know your thoughts!