Cyber Marketing

I've given quite some time for you to work out a rhythm with organization. I know things are running smoother for you. Lets move on to places to promote you. No matter where you promote yourself the road should always lead home. In cyber space; home is your own website.

The amount of cyber resources designed to help to promote you are endless. Myspace is one source you can use that has multiple A&R platforms. But don’t stop there. Not everyone has a myspace account and because of this, building awareness in other social networks are an asset to you. Knowing where to find your audience on the web will save you time and frustration. Here are some effective networks that are either free or low cost.

Your Main Website
You need your own website. It is without a doubt the doorway to global recognition. Here are some things to keep in mind while creating one or editing an existing site.

Content is still king
Your site should have some content before the directories will list it. Pages of affiliate links or banners, one page "flyer" type sites, etc., may make it into the search engines (for a short time) but they won't make it into the directories. Remember that there is a human editor looking through your site to decide on its suitability. You want to do everything in your power to make that editor feel that your site is a legitimate and helpful addition to their directory.
Try having some information on your site such as articles, or resources that someone interested in your business, service or field might find useful. Also try to have a good bunch of links that you think might be relevant to those visiting and try to give each link some actual description as to its content. Giant pages of links are generally frowned upon - but pages of links with explanations as to why they're being included, will be seen as a genuine resource for your visitors. Exchanging links with other sites is also one of the BEST ways to both increase your site's "popularity" with the search engines, and make a connection with other webmasters administering sites like your own. Who knows where that networking might lead?

Consider getting your own domain name: I hate to tell you this, but unfortunately, directories are less likely to categorize a site on Geo Cities, Fortune City, Tripod, or any service like that. Even if they do, you're likely to be low on their totem pole. Tripod and sites like it certainly do serve a purpose - and a valuable one at that - but unfortunately, they don't have a great reputation for quality with the major directories. I always advise those wanting to promote their business or service on the net to get their own domain name. It's not very expensive at all these days. Try a service like http://www.dotster.com/. If you're intending on making any money from your website, it's time to get serious. Having your own domain name lets other people know that you mean business.

The DIY Website
If you have decided to build your site, and that’s fine. Just note that the same tactics you use for your Newsletter, and other copy materials, must transform here as well. Now when it comes to building your own website, you should keep these pointers in mind. Control your navigation paths. All of your sub pages should lead to these three areas.

Home page
Sales/ order page
Frequently asked questions

Having sub pages that give more insight of your character and of other band members are fine; just make sure you tunnel them back to your product. That’s your number one goal right? To sell your product, right? Every single aspect of your Web site should serve the same master — your product. Nothing is more important than the product that you are going to sell.
Keep your pages simple. Go for that corporate look. I know it’s hard to turn down flashy widgets, and jazzy intros, but they distract your viewer, or it may cause your page to load slowly. Viewers are very impatient. What is the purpose of your sight and what kind of result do you expect? The answers to these two questions should drive your design. You must capture their attention quickly. If you don’t they will leave your site at the drop of a click.

White space is your friend. Having white backgrounds will keep your readers reading longer. The more difficult it is to read your content causes your viewer’s eyes to quickly tire and leave before they get to your sales pitch.

Use traditional fonts. There are thousands of bizarre looking fonts available. If you think they’re cool, use them on your CD artwork. But as far as the Web site that sales millions are concerned, stick to Times New Roman, Arial, Veranda and other long-established fonts that are both conservative and easy to read.

Be consistent. Repeat many of your design components such as type effects, images, layouts, from page to page and promotion to promotion. Choose a graphic theme and use it for all of your promotions. This is another way to have your branding stick in the heads of your audience.
Use contrast. When elements are different, make them really different. Use color, contrasting typefaces or type weight, and other ideas. Centering everything is very amateurish.
Web counters are only good for your site if you have 1 million unique visitors per day. Small numbers will make you appear insignificant, and you want to look large!
Check out these sites that can help you jazz up your site for free.

http://www.cooltext.com/ is a really nice site for creating eye catching fonts, logos, and buttons .

http://www.3d-pack.com/ this site enables you to create 3D boxes, CD and DVD cases. (I love this site!) You can create these 3D creations in Adobe Photoshop.

http://www.glassybuttons.com/ is another site to create cool buttons for your site.

http://www.dafont.com/ you'll find a huge selection of great free fonts here.

http://www.wantedfonts.com/ categories are listed on the left navigation.

http://www.sxc.hu/ is great place for free photos.

http://citrusmoon.typepad.com/citrusmoon/ offers a wide assortment of pretty tiles and backgrounds.

http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html offers a very easy to use color scheme generator.

http://colormatch.dk/ is a utility that will help you select a matching six color pallet for your blog.
Now if you realize that you have bit off more than you can chew, it's okay. You can use a company like http://www.hostbaby.com/ and use their templates, email, get your own domain name all for an affordable price. This will free you up to learn with out pressure.

For a complete e-guide on how to effectively to promote you visit: www.MyMelodiesNowMg.com/ebook.htm

As always, Be Blessed!RonSher Author of "5 Minutes 2 Show Time!" http://www.mymelodiesnowmg.com/www.tinyurl.com/5minutes2showtime

Organizing Goals/ Picture & Calendar

Let's move on to your picture. You’ve heard the cliché “a picture is worth a thousand words”. That’s right. As one who adores the art of picture taking, I will say this as gentle as possible. Candid pictures of you taken by your family or friends are beautiful and have there place, yet your promo picture should be done by a professional. You need someone who understands the art of bending light to perfectly capture your personality in a snap.


Candid pictures are great for social networks. They allow your audience to see the impromptu side of you. Still stay mindful that the pictures you choose are well lit and in focus. Try not to post a million pictures of other people unless you are either introducing them or you are in the picture with them. Your audience wants to see you not Pookie.


I know that today’s technology doesn’t require much use of paper, but I find it very resourceful to have a hard copy of anything you do with the tech gadget of your choice. I’m a tech junkie. I love looking at, touching, dreaming about, and owning the latest gadgets. Because of this I have learned from the school hard knocks, that it’s always best to keep a hard copy somewhere. Gadgets fizz out at the most inopportune times, and unless you like starting from scratch over and over again, hard copies are best to have. You also need to be able to quickly reference information.

Use this calendar to write down the following:

Dates of joining social networks
You want to write down joining dates so that you can gage how quickly you are building a strong presence in that network

Reoccurring fees
You have endless things to keep up with. The last thing you need is to have a vital service interrupted because you forgot to have adequate funds available.
Sending of promo materials
Sometimes replies to your promo package don’t come as quickly as you like. Keeping track of what, when, and to whom you sent it, will give you a point of reference.

Performance and personal obligations
Forgetting performance dates or family functions and/ or double booking will without a doubt will take the wind out of your sail. I know when I schedule artists and they don’t come; I don’t give them a second chance. Your audience is depending on you to keep your word.
First impressions are the lasting ones. Bad impressions are eternal.

What you have accomplished
When you set goals it’s good to know when you have accomplished them. It helps to give you a base for repeat projects. You know how long it will take and you can possibly work on ways to shorten the time. It is also a way to celebrate every victory. After all… you are your own pep squad.

Meeting important colleagues
Keeping track of who you meet, when, and where you met them and a short note about that person helps you later on. I had this producer that was referred to me two years before I ever worked with her. I was able to find her when I needed her because of my calendar.

Three Ring Binder
Next to your Bible, and this book; your binder will be your most important book you’ll ever have. This binder is the hub of your entire operation. In this binder you will house all pertinent information of your promotional campaigns.

Website login passwords
Forgetting a password every now and then will happen. You can avoid the hassle of retrieving it or creating a new one by keeping in here.

Song Submissions
The greater the presence, and the harder you promote your product you will soon see that it’s more difficult it is to keep up with every avenue of promotion. This section will keep things simple. I’ve placed a sample in the forms sections. Modify it for your benefit.

Yearly Promotion Budget
Keep track of what you are spending, so you don’t over spend and you will know how much future spending you require, this will help you better plan how to bring your vision to pass.

Marketing Strategies
Use this section to write down ideas, what works for you, and what has worked for others. Ask your colleagues what they are doing to promote themselves. Study their myspace pages and websites and incorporate what you can into your campaign. Proper research will save you money and time.

Myspace Quick Posts
Take time to go through and posts comments like, “Just stop by to say hi” and write down which of your friends allow your comments to post immediately with HTML codes and without. Jot down their name and which page of your friends list you will find them on to make your search quicker.
Now the purpose for this is, sometimes people will not approve your comments if you are advertising. Or you may need to announce something very quickly. Not everyone visits myspace daily, and your comment could be waiting in limbo for days, weeks, or worse. This will give you targeted advertising. You will know who allows HTML for things like banners, or snocap storefronts and who you need to inform in text only.
Internet Radio Submission and Air Play
I named this section after the radio station I have submitted to. It is so detailed I had to devote a section solely for each station. This is especially important if you are paying a fee to have your songs in rotation. You can keep track of what songs are being played and how many times they are playing.

Let's stop there for today. Overload is never good. Apply what youv'e learned and we'll pick up from here next time.

For a complete e-guide on how to effectively to promote you visit: www.MyMelodiesNowMg.com/ebook.htm

As always, Be Blessed!

RonSher
Author of "5 Minutes 2 Show Time!"
www.MyMelodiesNowMg.com
www.tinyurl.com/5minutes2showtime

Organizing Goals/Biography

So now that you have your plan prepared, let's talk about point #2 from the first blog: Your Biography.

This should go without saying but I will say it any way. You need a good biography. Try to be concise with your information, and it should flow freely. Your bio should be written in third person. To help you key in on the essential information, answer these questions.

1. What is your stage/band name? Does it have a special meaning? Where does it come from?

2. How would you describe your music to people? (This is not a short answer. Discuss it. Please include information regarding genre/style/lyrics/etc)

3. Where are you from? Where do you live? What is your musical history? (Please be specific. Include cities, dates, etc.)

4. Have you recorded any CDs/albums? EP's? (Which studios? Who produced them? Please provide dates/names of albums and/or popular tracks)

5. Major influences that can be heard through your music, different genres and bands. Please be specific.

6. How does your lyrics/music reflect the overall message you want to get across to your fans?

7. Are there any particular songs/albums that are especially important to you/your band? Why?

8. Any big upcoming events or shows, CD Release parties etc...? (Please provide location/date/time)

9. What live performance experience have you had? (Any industry showcases?)

10. Quick Facts. Please list anything noteworthy that you or your band has accomplished in the music biz. Major gigs, festivals, licensing deals, label recognition, radio play, record sales, etc...

11. Any upcoming albums, videos, features in magazines, etc...?

12. What sets you apart what makes your act original different...?

13. History on the band...how long together, individual members, specifics...? (Include names, ages, interesting facts, etc.)

14. What are your immediate music career goals? (In the next 5 years.)

15. What are your long-term career goals?

16. Plug your music. Where can the masses purchase your disk and downloads?

17. Message to the fans?

18. What did we miss? Is there anything else relevant that you want in your bio?

19. Where can the masses find you? (Web site, myspace, pure volume facebook, etc?)

Once you have answered these questions, your bio should flow like this:

The power of music is great. It has the ability to unite people of different cultures and backgrounds in a beautiful way. RonSher uses her talents to do exactly this. Though she is mostly focused in the jazz genre of praise and worship music, her writing and creative process traverses several categories. RonSher says, “Your culture determines the flavor you are most comfortable with, so I write songs in all genres in order to enable others to worship our Creator in their most comfortable element.”

This Michigan native started her musical career at the age of 9. Since then, she has played the clarinet, saxophone, piano, guitar, and drums in addition to singing. Her obvious musical talent has helped her forge a successful career in gospel music, being a part of the choir that won the McDonald’s Gospel Contest in Detroit, MI. Her first project, Melodies From Heaven was released in December of 2006. It was truly her own project, as she sang some songs, wrote, and composed the music for the songs herself.

RonSher has several influences, including Rich Mullins for his writing, Richard Smallwood for his piano skills, and Shirley Caesar for her musical delivery. With sounds that resemble those of Cece Winans, Anita Baker, and Sade, RonSher is sure to reach wide audiences.
She is currently working on her second project, Secret Place, which should deal with the relationship between people and Jesus. Her music is meant to encourage people to find their identities, enhance relationships, and fulfill their purpose through Christ. Her songs are composed through her “own journey in Him as well as others’ when I listen to their testimony.”

RonSher’s message to her fans is, “Music is powerful. If used correctly, it will unite and ignite global change for the better. My music is just what you need to jump start this vision becoming reality.” Find out more about RonSher at www.mymelodiesnowmg.com, www.myspace.com/ronshertbrooks, and www.youtube.com/melodiesnow.

If at all possible create a fact sheet and keep it handy. Your fact sheet should only have the following:
Name*
Address
Web address
Email address*
Phone number (of contact person for bands)
Contact person (If you’re not the one to contact)

*Have this information for every member.

Okay now that the hard work is done, write a condensed version. A bio containing 100 words is prime but definately do not exceed 250 words. It is a good idea to have both versions because not every place you submit your promotions to can handle the long story; so to keep you from rushing to provide a short bio- a good promo tactic is to already have one prepared.

Remember, as your pertinent information change, change your bio to reflect your growth. Next time we'll discuss points 3-5.

Today is your day to take charge of your destiny. Please suscribe to this blog and receive information on workshops and more.

Be Blessed!

RonSher

Author of "5 Minutes 2 Show Time! "

www.tinyurl.com/5minutes2showtime

www.MyMelodiesNowMg.com