To wrap up this week I wanted to direct you to a guest post I wrote for David Risley. The topic is directed at every musician looking for a way to organize, plan and brainstorm through Mind Mapping.

The concept of this article was to explain how I use Mind Mapping to organize my projects, with a specific relevance to musicians. I find myself caught up all the time with balancing music and blogging schedules. Don’t let good ideas die due to no organization.

Mind Mapping has been my savior to start off this year. I was able to create a schedule I could handle balancing all my projects and I found myself having more free time to work on things I enjoy.

I would also like to introduce you to David Risley. David is a Pro Blogger and Internet Entrepreneur whose blog is such and resource for all writers. From blogging to social media topics, you get a clear cut understanding of concepts built out to help your online visibility. Add him to your Google Reader and get free tips via RSS, he has helped me tremendously.

Here is a link to the article: Mind Mapping: Turning Content Into Ideas

Have a great weekend and lets get some ideas rolling for next week.

I recently switched over to Aweber as my solution for my mailing list. When I began blogging, I settled for a simple opt-in Wordpress plugin that would add some value to my subscribers.

The problem for me was the free plugin was limited and sometimes would have problems with random updates. I’ve been researching mailing list solutions and found some reasons why it is very important for your development.

Test For Yourself

I signed up for multiple mailing lists of websites that I enjoyed and found interesting things. I analyzed what I liked and didn’t like about their mailing lists: frequency of updates, or just too damn pushy and salesy.

My music operation is a business. I have made that distinction and its time to treat it as one. Reading some great posts by internet entrepreneur David Risley got me thinking about not just purchasing business tools but applying them.

If you don’t find ways to market your music with business tools then you are hurting yourself.

The view of the mailing list changed for me. I used to work crappy sales jobs and everything was about leads. I don’t want to be “that guy” because I have been on the receiving end of some horrible practices. This form of labeling made me not take my subscribers for granted, but reward them. Build relationships.

Aweber To The Rescue

I signed up for Aweber and was mad I didn’t do it earlier. The main reason early on I didn’t get it was I didn’t want to spend any money. I was just cutting corners and settling for passive email subscription services with limited features, such as Feedburner, just to save a buck.

Some of the features include:

1. Videos explaining the different ways you can use their multiple features to improve
   your business.
2. Sign Up forms are easy to customize and install on your blog
3. Email Web Analytics allow you to track if people are actually clicking and reading your
   emails or clicking on your products
4. Email Newsletters are easy to assemble and there are html templates to make your
   newsletter shine if you choose
5. Follow Up Autoresponders are a great way to send a sequence of emails personalized
   for your subscribers
6. Publish your email newsletter to Twitter

The service runs about $19 a month, with some low introductory offers for new subscribers. Paying for a high quality service like this is worth it. It is also the kick in the ass most musicians need. If you are paying for something, you want to get your money’s worth. Get active!

Reasons I See Value For a Musician Blogging:

1. Welcome Message: Send new subscribers a welcome message with some articles you think they will enjoy. Introduce subscribers to your website, or some aspect of your site you think they may have missed. Cover your ground
2. Autoresponders to the rescue: sending a sequence of emails that can introduce every
   subscriber to your music catalog. Old albums and new albums can receive the same
   attention
3. Newsletters can be sent on whatever timetable you like: daily, monthly, weekly. Test the
   right timetable that won’t annoy your subscribers
4. Split Test Messages: see which subject lines people are clicking more, or which messages
   are being opened. Maybe your music is great but your headlines suck.
5. See Sales Generated By Subscribers
6. Create Anticipation: while music is being created you can build anticipation for the
   future release in hopes of stimulating sales and blog visits.
7. Everyone has an email account: building your reach and not just relying on passing
   social networks

I like to promote services that I actually use and Aweber is one of them. It’s never to late to improve and I learned my lesson. Build your list as your traffic rises and don’t wait. Your mailing list is your asset that needs to be developed.

On that note, (shameless plug) feel free to sign up for Hip Hop Distribution’s monthly newsletter. The Sign up is located on the top right sidebar.

As 2009 wrapped up, I wanted to take some positive momentum into the next year. Evaluating what worked and what didn’t work in my music marketing campaign was easy. The hard part is acknowledging it and fixing it.

We are all human, and I fell victim to some bad habits. Stop waiting for the music lottery!

Musicians sometimes are happy with just having all the pieces a band needs. I have a website, Facebook page, Twitter account, and mailing list. I bought my lottery ticket, now its time for me to win. Without any consistent activity, those aspects to your promotion are useless.

There has to be a way to learn from mistakes and build upon what you were good at.

Organization/Time Management

I’ve gotten lost amongst music projects and blogging tasks that at times is overwhelming. The reason it got to this point is because I didn’t have a plan laid out. I was writing whenever I felt like it and lost track of what I really wanted to accomplish.

Create a content calendar and think of specific topics you want to write about for the month. Whether you are writing 1 article a week or 5 a week. This will eliminate time spent on thinking “I don’t know what to write about”. If you get the ball rolling, your tasks get easier later.

This is a must for 2010. I’ve been able to plan out future articles and get more time for myself. The calendar led to projects being completed and kept me motivated to write.

Blog Promotion

Two factors showed positive effects towards my blogging promotion: social networking and getting to know other bloggers.

Social Networking Initiative

Social networking is great. The key was using what worked. Twitter is awesome, at least for me. Use what you enjoy and if you see it has a positive impact on your blog visits, then improve it.

For instance, with Twitter, I could try speaking with 5 new people and introduce them to the blog. I could also hold a Twitter contest to get more mailing list subscribers. Use it with a purpose and learn from your peers.

The emcee in me always comes out: “I wasted time in 2009, that all ends in 2010″

Getting To Know Other Bloggers

Focusing on your website content is key. As your site visitors grow, opportunities will arise. Taking time to get to know other bloggers has helped expand my reach in 2009.

Create a list of music blogs you are interested in and get to know the writers.

Build your promotion from the ground up. Other bloggers can relate to the trials and tribulations of marketing their site. Joining together on random efforts can reap huge returns in visitors later. Be honest and brainstorm as well. You pick up great tips and free promotion.

Helping others goes a long way. Thanks to all the bloggers out there spreading the word about Hip Hop Distribution.

Blog Maintenance

Keyword research has proven positive in my experience. Take time to tag your article correctly, and study the trends from your web stats. Understand your audience and give them more of what they want.

Better linking is very important. Take some old articles and find a way to link it to some newer content or vice versa. Increase reader and search engine relevance. Doing this raised my Page Rank, higher traffic and increased page views. I will build upon this.

Homework

1. Create a list of 3 things that improved your website stats and revenue.
2. Answer why it worked
3. Create tasks to apply this month

The simplicity in this small assignment is to start thinking of building on successful campaigns that worked for YOU. Listing specific accomplishments can be hard, but you have to know if its a winning or losing effort.

I will expand more on specific tasks in later posts. Please share any things that have worked for you below and what you have learned from your blogging in 2009.

I wanted to take this time to thank you for your support. This year has been an interesting one and time has definitely flown by. I am very grateful for all the insight you guys have added to discussions and questions you have asked making this site better.

This year I plan to take a more active approach in helping your blog. Less theory and more practice. The one thing I realized is many music bloggers talk about what you can do, but lack specific tasks to achieve them. The reason I want to make this blog different is because I want to make you practice: I learned by trial and error. Now after a couple of years blogging about music, I’ve been able to eliminate some errors and build upon what worked.

End Of Year Evaluation

I want you to take some time to think about your music promotion. Think about what your are happy with and what you want to expand. Find out what your biggest problems are and acknowledge they need to be fixed. Has your blogging changed according to time passing?

Let’s get this year started off with good momentum. Be positive. Understand that each music operation varies. What works for one band might not work for another. Blogging helps point out some of your hidden strengths.

Use your stats, make your own assumptions and remember if this was easy, then everyone would be famous or rich. Work hard for your passion. Let people really know what your music means to you.

Time to visit the studio and let creative juices flow.

Be safe, Stay smart and Keep positive.

Have A Safe and Happy New Year!

I want to know more about you and see where your band blog is and where you want it to go. I was once in the 0-500 range and hated it.

I want to bring out the best in our readers and have them participate in sharing their success and obstacles. Let’s learn from one another.

This is not an ego check, it’s a “let’s triple these stats” mentality.

A majority of stats packages will give you a “unique visitors” number for your monthly stats. This is not for ‘hits’ and ‘pageviews’.

 Loading ...