Reasons You Should Never Scrimp On Your Photo Shoot
Promotional photos are a huge component of a musician’s marketing and branding. It’s necessary to have just the right images to effectively market your music and its message. …
Category: NEXT STEPS
SECURITY FOR WORDPRESS (AND OTHER THINGS)
Recently my Crescentmusic.com site was hacked. It still worked, and no one visiting the site was in danger, but some nefarious degenerate had piggybacked another site onto my server, buried deep in the file structure. I discovered it when my site would not allow me to update things. It took hours and hours to clean. There were thousands of files I had to delete and
Dropbox
I use dropbox to sync files to my ipad. …
LinkedIn for Musicians and Filmmakers
I started using LinkedIn a lot more lately. I have really really tried to be a regular Facebook user, but alas, after the 10th cute kitten picture, I get frustrated and log off and I LOVE kittens. I realized I was missing so many important posts because they were buried under 10 pages of kittens and deep thought quotes. And if I’m missing other people’s
Icontact Email Service
I use Icontact to send out my bulk emails. I switched some years ago when I realized that my emails were getting bounced back more and more. …
Where to host your website
Even if you use Facebook, you should consider having a website. I use Dreamhost as my hosting server, and WordPress for my website development. Dreamhost has been very reliable, and their tech support very responsive, and they are one of the few WordPress verified hosting servers.
Google Alerts – what are people saying about you?
your own personal google search results in your inbox …
Don’t Give Away Your Music for Free
Good article by Jonathan Ostrow on Music Think Tank
Passport Travel Tip
Scan your passport, important documents, prescriptions and photos of your instrument and equipment in case they are stolen. Then email them to someone (you can contact easily by the internet) staying home so that if you lose your documents you can have them emailed to you (or your embassy – or the authorities) to make it easier to get replacements. If you have a secure
Airbed N breakfast – great resource for places to stay or to rent out a room
http://www.airbnb.com/ Do you have an extra room/apartment/house to rent? If you have a spare room to rent out during mardi gras/jazz fest you need to get on this site. I use this site to rent my house in New Orleans during jazz fest and mardi gras. The people I get are wonderful. Do you need cheap places to rent while traveling / on tour? There
Getting your CD track info to show up on computers
When a music CD is inserted in a computer connected to the internet, the media player application (like Itunes and Windows Media Player) go through a convoluted system of taking the number of tracks on a CD, the running times of the tracks, and then comparing this information to a database of existing CDs online where it then retrieves the album, artist, track information, and
Business card, post card and poster printing services
Online printers who specialize in business cards, postcards, posters, etc. …
Internet Concerts
If you thought YouTube was a great venue to connect with the world, you need to explore one of the latest trends – online performance sites. Some are geared around a specific venue. Others feature live performances from all over. Live from Daryl’s House Live from Daryl’s House started with Daryl’s light-bulb moment idea of “playing music with my friends and putting it up on
Gig Kit
What’s in your gig kit? Leave a comment below to contribute to the list. It’s 9:49 pm and you go on in 10 minutes. You’re downing a last gulp of your drink and someone knocks into you, spilling it all over your shirt. Did you bring another one? Do you even have any spot remover? Anticipating what could go wrong and planning for it can save the
Elevator Pitch
A great elevator speech makes a lasting first impression, showcases your professionalism and allows you to position yourself. …
GETTING THE WORD OUT – grassroots ideas to promote yourself and your music
Compiled from multiple sources on the internet, my experience, books, etc. Send out press releases frequently. The press need a story. Just releasing a CD is not a news item. Do you have an interesting story that will get their attention? What are the songs on your CD about? What’s the theme? What’s the message you are trying to communicate through your music? Website and
Marketing Ideas Exchange
Do you have a fun or different way to market, promote or sell your music? Leave a comment.
Facebook Marketing Tips for Musicians FREE e-Course
Confused by Facebook?
Virtual Jewelcase
My exclusive proofing system shows you how your graphics look in your packaging. Also great to include in your digital download packages or on your site.
New Orleans Fun Guide – Free event listings
FREE Promotional Resource for Arts & Cultural Organizations
Distribution
CDBaby The “world’s largest independent music store” AND they put your songs for sale as digital downloads on all the best retailers, including iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, and more. they charge a setup fee. They pay weekly. You set your own price. They take a cut. www.cdbaby.com Louisiana Music Factory “The one stop site for all of your New Orleans and Louisiana music needs.” The Louisiana