2. Getting More Fans and
Bringing More People To
Shows
Or learning how to fail and fail and fail…
…and fail some more.

3. “The music business is
a cruel and shallow
money trench, a long
plastic hallway where
thieves and pimps run
free, and good men die
like dogs.
There's also a negative
side.”
― Hunter S.Thompson

4. Mike Huberty

5. Mike Huberty

6. Mike Huberty

7. Mike Huberty

9. What do artists/musicians
want?

10. What do artists want?
An audience to consume their art.
People to come to their events.
FANS

12. Groups of humans together
create electricity and that brand of
electricity is as necessary to your
musical performance as the kind
that you get from the outlet in the
wall.

13. You want an audience so
you need to tell them why
they should be there
You need to create context.

14. context
the circumstances that form the
setting for an event, statement, or
idea, and in terms of which it can be
fully understood and assessed:
ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting
the construction of a text): from Latin
contextus, from con- ‘together’ +
texere ‘to weave.’

15. Branding is not a dirty word
Branding is just about knowing yourself
It’s a short cut for the audience to figure out who you
are
The audience is looking for someone like them,
someone that expresses feelings through art that they
cannot
Branding helps those people find you.
It is your context. It is your story.

16. Know who you are.
“Know thyself and to thine self be true.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet
“He who knows others is wise; he who knows
himself is enlightened.”
― Lao Tzu
“To thine own self be true”
― Twisted Sister, “Burn In Hell”

21. The Story of Scott Bakula

22. The Story of Scott Bakula

23. Who you are is your context
I am a nerd. I like nerdy things. That’s part of my context.
My sister and I like ghost stories and so we turned it into
a business.
When you’re an artist, your art is you. Your product is
you.

24. Marketing You
The essence of digital marketing (social media) is that
you’re a real person selling you.
We have the freedom online to create that real person.
We have the freedom at an event to create that real
person.
Your context can be whatever you want it to be. Your
context (story) needs to authentically connect with your
audience, but it doesn’t need to be authentic.

25. Bruce Springsteen is worth $300 Million.
He still connects to the working man?

26. Guess what? They’re not really aliens!

27. Once you know who you
are, you find out who your
audience is…

28. Where do they hang out?
In the real world
Do they hang out in bars or coffeeshops?
Are they the kind of people who go see live bands?
Why do they go out? The cool factor? Romance? Free
beer?
Sometimes it’s not the cool places. Sometimes it’s
where you least expect it. There’s plenty of cool bands
that play in Madison and Chicago and Minneapolis, how
many cool bands play in Beaver Dam or Eau Claire?
That’s where you have your events!

31. Where do they hang out?
When you’re online, the medium is
the message.

32. YouTube for Musicians
The second largest search engine in the world
Put all of your music there immediately. All of it.
It is Internet crack. It has the greatest engine in the
world for people looking for more content immediately.
Make lots of videos and then you can post them
everywhere.
It is a place to create new relationships.

34. Twitter for Artists
Funny pithy things to say.
Real-time interaction.
Ephemeral. It’s meant to be in the moment.
If you’re gonna tweet, then tweet! Play the game,
respond, and interact. Join conversations. It’s Twitter,
you don’t have to be invited to say something.

36. Facebook for Artists and
Bands
Events, events, events.
Reach people who are only nominally online.
Great for live pictures and press photos.
It’s mostly a push medium. Stay in people’s news
feeds to remind them you’re around.
A place to show success and validate relationships.
Photobrag!

37. Fitzgerald was wrong. There are
second acts in American lives!

38. Proof - Validate why your audience should like you. Because other people

39. Show them that you’re real.

40. Google+
Hangouts, hangouts,
hangouts!
Longform interaction
with your audience

41. Text
Instagram
Deepen relationships with friends by staying in
their feed and make new ones through tags

42. Text
Pinterest
It’s worth it, just for the SEO. Just post things that
you like, or post to content you’ve already
created.

43. Text
Podcasts
Let people get to know you by spending a lot of
time with you.

44. Other networks, is your
crowd there?
Snapchat
The place for funny, “in the moment” pictures. Great if
you’ve got a young audience or already have a lot of
friends on there.
Myspace
Not a lot of people there, might be a good opportunity
to shine
Soundcloud
Great for EDM artists, easily shareable music
Broadjam
Great for songwriters looking to collaborate and meet
other serious artists

45. Do not neglect your own
website and email list
Email is still the best way to connect with your
audience, period.
If you don’t have an email list, immediately go home
and make one right now. Just start with your friends
and ask them if they want to be on it.
The best place to be is in someone’s inbox and once
you have their address, it won’t change with the times.
The best place for direct marketing.

46. Be ruthless. And don’t stop.
No one else cares about your career. No one.
If you’re not comfortable marketing your art, find
someone who is and get them on your team.
Digital marketing is great, but don’t neglect the real
world.

47. Play your own game.
Whoever denies me, it shall not trouble me;
Whoever accepts me, he or she shall be
blessed, and shall bless me.”
― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
You’re not competing against anyone
but yourself. Do not let other people’s
opinions, success, or failure affect
yours.

48. Wanna hang out sometime?
Listen to some music at www.sunspotuniverse.com
Get your songs on Film and TV at www.broadjam.com
Take a haunted history tour of Madison’s Capitol
Square at www.madisonghostwalks.com