I’ve been using Google Trends recently for expanding my reach. I was intrigued by meeting influential music bloggers all over the globe. Ultimately, there is no lost cause here in research as long as you work towards your sites promotion. These were some of the initial tasks I wanted to accomplish in this test:

• Commenting on international blogs, increasing visibility
• Seeking out international blog reviews of my music
• Using Twitter and Facebook to build relationships with new friends

Why Use Google Trends?

Google Trends allows you to see the world’s interest in certain search terms tracked by Google over time. The nice thing you can see is georgraphic regions that showed increased search interest in your keyword. The accuracy of specific data may contain some inaccuracies due to data sampling issues and a variety of approximations, however, for our purposes the information will work.

In the image above I used the term “buy hip hop” as a general example to see any increasing or decreasing trends and also to find out what regions I could research to expand my music marketing efforts. I would recommend doing genre searches in relation to your music. What tags do you use to describe your style of music?

Regions Results

The image to your left shows some of the regions results where “buy hip hop” was being searched. You can see the different regions aside from the United States, such as South Africa, Canada,New Zealand, UK, and Australia.

Google trends is giving me an idea of some different places to reach out to globally where hip hop searches are flourishing. Now that I have a list of some countries to reach out to, I will do a Google search.

For instance, I will take UK as an example and search “Google UK” for their search engine listings. I will use the http://www.google.co.uk/ address to see search results that are UK specific and include world results.

I get a better chance to connect with bloggers in the UK by doing a variety of searches, such as “hip hop blogs” or “hip hop reviews”. I like to also refine the search and just select “pages from the UK” and resubmit

Positive Results

• I was introduced to new hip hop bloggers in the UK and exchanged information over Twitter
• I was able to ask what social networks are hot where they live
• I can create a network slowly that can increase my online presence globally, exchanging promotion
• I was able to find some blogs that review music from the UK and the US. Great for future free music initiatives and iTunes projects
• I wouldn’t have found some of these friends if I didn’t try this, they didn’t show up in my regions’ search results. Worth the effort

The list is slowly building. It ties in with a recent article I wrote called “The Blogging Fan is My Publicist”. The plan is to develop future marketing partnerships, exchanging promotion as a possibility. I want to work on creating different channels where my music and content can be sent out to a relevant audience.

I want to reach out to overseas fans. Hip Hop overload in the US is very prevalent. Put your music in front of fans that want to hear it, just do some research. Write down a couple of search terms and search Google search results for that specific region. Get creative with your own searches. Your music dies when your promotion stops.

Part of my DIY experience is about just testing things out.  My music could always use extra promotion and after seeing some sales stats from my old album, I started thinking.

My album sales were down but my singles sales went up.  Instead of finding this discouraging and abandoning the Do It Yourself effort I decided to do some more writing.  How can I promote my individual tracks and create better sales and more time spent on the site.

I came across this free Wordpress Plugin called WP Post Footer. This plugin allows you to make different post footers that follow your article. I wanted to use this for custom messages for different articles on my blog, and increase time of visits and create a better call to action.

Reason For The Project

I am working on multiple web projects and have been studying Search Engine Optimization since 2004 when I worked for a Content Creation company, focused on creating free, organic traffic from search engines.

Marketing music is a different beast, however, certain concepts in internet promotion are dead on with what we as musicians need to focus on.

How can we increase music purchases? How can we have visitors spend more time on our blog? How can we increase our chances of getting articles shared virally on Twitter and Facebook?

Classic Marketing Example

The classic marketing example includes interlinking relevant articles to your posts.  If I had a book about Building a Studio, I would write on my blog about the different steps such as soundproofing or building a mic booth and so on.

A home musician is now searching for tips or books on building a studio.  He/She discovers your article about “Building a Mic Booth” and finds the content very helpful.

At the end of that article you include a post footer to “sound proofing and bringing out the best of your mic”.  You are introducing a relevant user to exploring more of your blog, helping them and potentially selling them on your book.

The best part of this is you are encouraging potential fans to explore more of your music.  If someone directs me to just their album, I might be hesitant to just sit there and listen to the whole thing.  By introducing your style in affordable packages such as presenting free singles or $1 singles, fans might be more inclined to find something they like.

3 Songs With 3 DIfferent Messages Test

Post #1 is our first example.  I have a track that was produced with some grimey hip hop drums and soul breaks.  What I will do now is add a post footer to the end of this  post directing visitors to a similar track from my old catalogue.  I am promoting a new song and letting them know where they can find a similar song from my archives.  Increase relevance.

Post #2 takes on an instrumental post.  I am a Hip Hop head that loves to write rhymes and produce music.  I wanted to write a post about a recent instrumental I made.  If they like it, I provided a post footer to where they can find an older instrumental album we made on Bandcamp that is free. 

Selling doesn’t always have to be the point.  Give them something free and create a starting point for a relationship.

Post #3 is my beats per minute experiment.  Slow tracks, fast tracks, similar beats per minute, lounge or dance themes.  Pair up similar sounding tracks and lead the way to introducing them to other singles, highlighting your versatility and your catalogue.

I love the fact that now your album has multiple advertisements introducing people to your project’s concept.  The additional tagging for you singles will be very good for the search engines.

Worth A Shot

From an internet marketing view I love the idea of getting readers to follow more content on my site because it related to the current topic they were reading about.

From a musical standpoint I love it because it acts like Pandora in a sense of providing similar sounding music, except its from your band or collective.

I knew I needed a mailing list for my music promotion. Every music blogger out there will tell you “YOU NEED A MAILING LIST”. Once I found my mailing list solution, I knew it was time to strategize and plan.

While I agreed it was important when I first started, I didn’t know too much about what I could really accomplish with Aweber. It’s not just about collecting an email and shooting out a newsletter.

I read some articles and became convinced that my mailing list promotion needed attention and not treated as just another tool.

Here is a collection of awesome articles to get your mind thinking on different ways to approach your mailing list promotion.

Email Marketing Insight

Darren Rowse from ProBlogger: How I Use Email Newsletter To Drive Traffic and Make Money

1. interesting example of an email cycle
2. customizing your welcome email
3. creating themed updates for promoting your artform
4. adding promotions throughout a sequence of emails

Michelle Bowles from Top Rank Blog: 5 Top Email Marketing Tactics for 2010.

1. creating viral campaigns
2. monitoring open rates and click rates
3. engaging new subscribers

Sonia Simone from Copyblogger: Why Email Marketing is Dead (And How to Bring It Back to Life)

1. focusing on what your fan wants or needs
2. email is “a more intimate medium than RSS”

Invest In Your Music

Invest time into your list. Build your list over time and finally market your music to people who are actually interested in what you do. They did sign up, didn’t they?

Image provided by Danilo Rizzuti

I recently did a guest post and noticed some great opportunities.

Social networking makes it very important to acknowledge and help those that help you. Maybe that is not an approach that every musician wants to take, but from a small operation standpoint, I love the Idea.

While reading Technorati’s “State of the Blogosphere 2009” I wanted to observe some blogging growth trends.

But as the 2009 State of the Blogosphere survey demonstrates, the growth of the blogosphere’s influence on subjects ranging from business to politics to the way information travels through communities continues to flourish. In a year when revolutions and elections were organized by blogs, bloggers are blogging more than ever, and the State of the Blogosphere is strong.- Jennifer McLean

The Blogging Fan provides an interesting aspect. I’m thinking about engaging with readers on my band site that also have blogs. If this aspect flourishes in internet marketing, why not music marketing?

This is not to neglect other fans, it is to explore who your fans are. How can you help each other? This is not a promotion that is done at random just to increase traffic, its to build relationships.

I see backlash on Twitter from fans disliking artists for their lack of engagement, or still pretending you are bigger than life and are too busy for your fans. I couldn’t agree with the fans more. I’ve even contacted artists with a similar fanbase as mine and was shocked to see how they viewed themselves as rockstars, when their follower size and website look proved otherwise.

What did I learn?

Reward those that show interest in you.

What Blogging Has Taught Me About Online Street Teams

I have always stressed how important gaining visitors is to your site, and even though sales can be sluggish, don’t give up your efforts to improve. One thing I think people overlook is how important of an asset your visitors are. Traffic is a good thing, the more the better. How can you make it work for you?

I was offered to do guest blog for a larger site and I was happy for the opportunity to be featured on a blog with such high visibility, seeing traffic trickle in and introducing a new form of visitors to my project.

In return, I wrote a review about the author and introduced my readers to his site and my article. I reciprocated because I wanted to, not because I had to. I appreciated the acknowledgement. I was more willing to promote his site in the future. I already enjoyed visiting the site, now I found myself talking about the site to others.

Create that feeling for your blogging fans. It doesn’t have to be a guest post. It’s about relationships and learning from one another.

The Blogging Fan Initiative

When your blog starts expanding, your fans start showing up in your comment section. Now it’s time to get to know some of your fans. Let them know you see them, and appreciate their time.

Let them share as your traffic rises. Traffic is what you can return to your fans. Bloggers love more eyeballs staring at their content.

The project is in the hands of the musician. How can you show love for your blogging fans?

1. “Fan of the Week”: find a fan that has a provided some good input to your music or has been a loyal reader. Highlight them in a post and introduce your listeners to them. Highlight who they are, what they do (their website) and where fans can learn more about them. Create a sense of community. Introduce fans to other fans.
2. Visit a Fan’s blog and participate: return the love if you actually enjoy their subject and comment on their blog. It doesn’t have to be music related, it just has to be genuine. Don’t fake it just to promote, genuinely get to know people. Build relationships.
3. Twitter Promotion: introduce your followers to your new friends and Retweet an article they wrote or a website they write for (only if you like it). Great way to show your love for new followers.
4. Social Bookmarking: If you like any aspect of their blog, Stumble or Digg an article. It takes less than a minute and helps their cause tremendously
5. Mention In Newsletter: some fans are producers, musicians or artists, they would probably love the promo

These are just some examples so get creative with some of your own techniques. You might find its easier than you think to build these bridges.

Blogging Fans Respect The Effort

For the independent band or musician, bloggers carry alot of weight. I even believe on a lower level, bloggers outweigh traditional press releases when established in the proper channels.

Don’t view it as a chance to get your music reviewed, view it as a way to increase your visibility with people who are more likely to return the favor in the future. It’s only selfish marketing when you don’t put in the effort to help others. Nobody owes you anything.

Practicing this allowed me to meet some generous souls out there that now I can call good friends. Without their help, I would not have the extra article Retweets, the new RSS subscribers, and the extra daily visitors that show increasing traffic. There is no right way to approach this, just get to it and get to know your fellow fans.

The goal of this initiative is not to find massive traffic, it’s to find relevant users and increase my content distribution. It is one thing to gauge your monthly visitors, but how active are you in resolving issues or continuing success in your online marketing campaign?

I was very pleased to see monthly stats rise, greater discussions and new social networks flourishing adding to my visibility. I got too comfortable in 2009 with just raw numbers, that my data analysis was lacking. You don’t have to be a scholar to make improvements: just show you care and improve.

Social Networking/Social Bookmarking/Search Engine

The title of this section describes the 3 facets of my marketing plan that I constantly try to improve. The stats below are provided by my favorite Wordpress plugin, Referrer Detector. This plugin allows me to see where my social and search engine traffic is coming from.

Referrer Detector is a Wordpress plugin that shows a greeting to users coming from various areas of the internet. For example, If someone found one of my articles on Digg and they click through to my site, the user finds a personalized message to vote up that article or become a friend on Digg.

Another example I see is if a user comes from finding me in search results in Google, I can customize the message to say “don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS”. Very helpful and provides a call to action to promote your efforts more.

The stats breakdown is very nice. I like to see the pie chart that comes out to gauge where all my efforts are going to. Break down the stats: daily/monthly/yearly/all time/ or specified dates.

Plan

I want to increase production and mainly my effectiveness. I feel like a fool because I was so focused on search engine marketing and the stats show it. I’m believing that the balance has to exist because social media networks are vital. Here are some stats for Hip Hop Distribution that I found interesting over this selected time period.

I’ve always felt strong about my search engine traffic. I’ve worked really hard doing research, and optimizing all my content, but even though the graph shows nice Google traffic, my Yahoo presence sucks. Analysis shows my efforts can still improve. Even a successful segment can be improved upon.

Stumbleupon and Digg provided nice referrals. Twitter showed improvement over last month and out did my Yahoo search engine referrals. How can I fix it?

Why not try using Yahoo Buzz to social bookmark some content and maybe it could gain a little momentum within that search engine. Will it work? Maybe. The proof lies in my test. Be creative with solutions, it’s always worth a shot if you are trying to improve your business.

Build your own stats and fix accordingly. The main thing here is what proof do YOU have that your social media campaign is effective or lacking?

Homework

The stats can be taken from your control panel if you are not using this plugin. Ask yourself these questions:

1. How many Social Bookmarking/Social Networking sites are you using?
2. Where is your content flourishing?
3. Where are you going to improve?

Don’t sit back and let your stats plateau, keep them rising. Analyze and think of ways to introduce your content into different channels. I am currently breaking down each social network and implementing some tasks to create engaging conversations, adding more followers, and spending time where it is most promising. The one troublesome fact of this analysis for me is my Facebook presence needs severe improvement. Live, Test and Learn.

Set a timetable where you want to monitor your activity. Blind promotion is over with in 2010. Stay active, your content distribution relies on it.

Feel free to Tweet and Stumble this article if you enjoy it.

Themes on a Budget

Affordable Options

The reason I like Themeforest is I bought a theme for $25 and it had so many options, with a sweet modern design. If you are a Wordpress musician, you will love the options features on many of the themes.

1. Admin Options: Easier customization features within Wordpress Dashboard, versus dropping code into your templates.
2. Multiple Page Layouts: Important for me as an artist because it allows me to find a different page layout for my albums, home page, and blog area.
3. Installation: Step by step instructions for certain customization features
4. Save On Web Design Costs: Now that you have found a theme structure you like, you can still get expert help from a web designer. Having a theme idea already makes the job easier for a web designer and will save you money from starting a design project from scratch.
5. Customer Comments: check out the comments from people who have purchased the theme. You get to find out about how helpful the designer is with answering questions or any problems with their product.
6. Affiliate Program: If you like their service you can promote them on your blog or to fellow musicians you work with. Great way to get your money back and create a passive revenue stream. Here is my affiliate link.

Just another option if you are tired of looking at endless “Top 100 Free Wordpress Themes” articles found everywhere with the same recycled themes.

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!