Talk Back to your Core Community

We spend a lot of time hyping why today’s musicians need to be active on the interwebs. Social networks are essential to keeping tabs on an increasingly diverse (geographically, demographically, and psychographically) music community supporting your craft.

I use the word “community” very deliberately, because it is not about bands and fans anymore. That’s too divisive. Today’s music business is about communities tied together by shared values; it’s about tribes built around a common purpose or goal; it’s about bringing people in rather than sending your messages out.

If you can, try to start shifting your focus from “How can I get more people to download/purchase my songs?” to “How can I build a genuine community around my art?” I know it’s going to sound a little warm and fuzzy at first, but the whole point here is that we are building long-term music careers. Long-term is the realm of relationships, not products. Don’t focus on the sell; focus on the people.

Your music marketing should be a conversation. Marketing used to be about finding a way to interrupt someone enough to get noticed. Not only is that strategy dead, but it was often abrasive and irritating anyways. Not a good way to start off a long-term relationship!

As a musician, you don’t want to be the mysterious man behind the curtain. Generally, it’s best to be transparent. You want to be as accessible as possible, because your new, most powerful marketing tool is your community. Your core community (see my post: Focus on a Few) will be able to create more legitimate buzz than you ever could have trying to market to the masses.

Who do you want in your core community? These are the fans that seek you out first. These are the fans that send you e-mails, that tweet at you, that are trying to get in touch with you somehow, some way. They are curious people, and that by itself sets them apart from the pack. You need to pay attention to them because they are sending you a very clear signal that they are not passive music fans. They’re trying to engage. So talk back!

What can they do for you? If you have been equally engaging and convinced these curious people that you are a real, authentic, and valuable person, they will gladly go out and spread the word about what you do. They are the ones that will actually show up to your shows, purchase your merch, and generally value all that you do. They will likely talk about it with all of their friends. These are the people who naturally share information with other people because it is what they like to do. But they need to know that they are really part of your community, and that involves your genuine interaction.

If you do nothing else today to build your music career, I suggest you watch the Seth Godin video embedded below. Seth talks about the importance of the curious. Malcolm Gladwell would call them your mavens. I’m calling them your core community. Connect with them; talk back to them.

This is why today it’s important to not just have an online presence, but to have an active and interactive online presence. Online social networks are most effective when you use them to enhance your offline relationships.

If you tweet at us or try to get our attention, we’ll always respond. As our friend Josh knows, sometimes several of us will respond, and you’ll end up on our blog several times!