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Music Business Rules for Socializing on Twitter

NOTE: This is part three of a ten part series on Twitter.  If you want to see firsthand how I use Twitter for promotion, follow me at twitter.com/davidhooper.  Also take a look at Twitter for Musicians: The Complete Guide.

Twitter is a social networking tool, built to, well…socialize and network with others. Many businesses have caught on to this nifty network marketing tool. Since then Twitter has exploded as an easy to use, online platform that can be expanded to help develop branding, promote products, and keep clients in sync with what is happening on the forefront of your business.

There are a few different rules businesses must follow when networking on Twitter, but for the most part, things work the same as they do for an individual user. Here are a few things to think about when using Twitter as a business tool.

•    Update your profile – Keep your profile updated and current with any new developments or projects currently in the works. This helps your customers understand where you are going as a business and it also makes them aware of any changes you have planned.

•    Stay professional – While it may be fun to get into a heated debate over who will win the Kentucky Derby, keep your tweeting business oriented. It is not a bad thing to express your opinion every once in a while, but do make sure that it falls directly in line with the mission statement and operating procedures of the company under whose name you are tweeting. If you are a sole proprietor, obviously you have the decision making power here, but if you are in business with others, develop a policy for how individuals will tweet.

•    Be personal – People like to know they are talking with actual people. In this age where digital voices prompting our actions are standard, people find great delight in the ability to communicate with intelligent human people who can actually listen and respond rather than deal with canned impersonal messages that don't meet their individual needs and desires.

•    Give to get – Don't just spam your followers with announcements of new products or websites for them to look at. Converse with them, answer their questions and ask them exactly what they are looking for. Once again, be human and socialize with them. It is ok to interact with your customer online the same way you interact in a face to face meeting, just keep it professional.

•    Use tracking devices – Implement the use of hashtags and other tracking devices as searchable references for your customers. This makes it easy for them to follow you and your business developments. The easier it is to follow you and what you are doing, the better chance you have they will actually do it. Let your customers know when you have initiated a new search term and what those terms mean to them. Your business is about helping the customer get to your product as easy as possible. Hashtags are a great tool to help this happen.

•    Make their life easy – While conversing with your prospects, make sure to ask if there is anything they believe your business can do to improve - and then listen. Customer feedback is one of the most valuable tools to a business. What better way to get feedback than online when you are already in conversation with them? You can develop customer loyalty simply through listening to and responding to their opinions.

The biggest difference between a business account and a personal account on Twitter is the language and posture you present while socializing. Don’t be a machine, check your replies and messages, respond to questions and be human. Follow these simple rules and your business will develop a new social networking tool that can be used to reach thousands more clients in no time.

Branding Your Twitter Profile

NOTE: This is part two of a ten part series on Twitter.  If you want to see firsthand how I use Twitter for promotion, follow me at twitter.com/davidhooper.  Also take a look at Twitter for Musicians: The Complete Guide.

Twitter profiles are a window into the life and business of each user. Without a proper and effective profile, jobs can be lost, money can be washed down the drain and customers can be swayed to another profile that provides more of what they are looking for. A Twitter profile is just like a marketing campaign for a company. A proper Twitter profile should effectively provide a snapshot of your brand.

Twitter is just another tool to implement your marketing strategy on the web. As such, the same branding rules apply to your Twitter profile. Your profile does not just include the wording on your Twitter account, but also the background on your Twitter page. There are applications you can use to develop free backgrounds for your Twitter account if you are on a budget, but in order to properly brand yourself, spend the extra money and develop a personal background the same way you would for a website. It will pay dividends in the end.

Here are a few tips to follow when creating your profile on Twitter to help develop your brand.

•    Be Consistent – Keep your message steady. If your business is about making the best athletic shoes on the market, make sure your Twitter profile falls right in line with it. As enticing as it might be to throw up a few pictures of you fishing with some friends, keep your message relevant.

•    Add Pictures – Many people want to see actual pictures of who they are talking to, not avatars or logos. As tempting as it might be to put your company logo up as your profile picture, save your logo for your background and put a picture of you on the profile. This will let people know they are talking to a real person and help your marketing efforts tremendously.

•    Frequently Update – When you have something new, make sure you update your profile. This lets people know your business is changing and growing. Your brand depends on it. Remember to keep it a consistent message, but also to keep it filled with fresh content.

•    Give Readily Available Contact Information – When branding yourself or your business on Twitter, one of the most important things is to make sure people know how to get in touch with you. Be sure to include applicable links to your website or any other methods of contact you might have such as email and phone. Specify how you prefer people reach you and list your business hours, if you use them.

•    Stick with Simplicity – While you only have 140 characters to develop your profile, treat it as though it were SEO copy. You only have a few seconds to get your brand across before the potential client becomes bored and goes elsewhere, so be brief and chose your words wisely.

•    Value Time – Take your time. Developing your brand on a new social media tool can be exciting and a lot of fun, but don’t let the excitement go to your head. Take your time. If you take your time, you will be able to get out exactly what you want to say. You won't need to go back and change your message 10 minutes after you have published it because you left something out or didn’t get your point across.

Branding your business took time, possibly even months. Give your Twitter profile the same attention you did to the initial branding efforts and it will pay off. Follow these steps and you will have a good understanding of how to use your Twitter profile to brand your business properly and effectively.

Best Music Business Practices for Twitter

NOTE: This is part one of a ten part series on Twitter.  If you want to see firsthand how I use Twitter for promotion, follow me at twitter.com/davidhooper.  Also take a look at Twitter for Musicians: The Complete Guide.

If you've been around the social media circuit for any time, you know Twitter is the phenomenal micro-blogging platform revolutionizing the way people network and market their business. Twitter gains somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 new users every month. The recently elected American President, Barack Obama, made Twitter a household name as the political pundits across the country marveled at the way his campaign team used the tool to reach millions of American's with his message.

For all the people using Twitter effectively, there are also huge numbers of people who either don't make good use of it at all or who try to overpower the platform and its users with unwanted spam.
Here are three of the best business practices for using Twitter effectively:

1.    Use a complete profile.

Twitter gives every user a profile page. Make the most of this space by uploading an actual photograph of yourself, providing your real name in your biography and offering information about and links to your website or blog.

People look at your profile page to decide if they want to follow your updates. They may also take a look when you post a message particularly relevant to them. When they get there, make sure you give them what they need to make an informed decision about your business. It may be the only shot you get.

2.    Interact.

Don't just broadcast. Twitter is a social networking tool with the operative word being social. Don't just blast your site information or the link to your sales page every time you use Twitter. Talk to people. Ask them what they do and how you can help them or ask about their family members or interests.

Twitter is great for conversations kept open enough for everyone to join in. General talk about a specific industry, process or training is a great way to get others involved in a discussion. If you engage in banter and chat on Twitter every time you use it, you may even find it a bit tough keeping up with all the followers you gain.

3.    Share your expertise.

The people with the highest rankings on Twitter are the ones who aren't afraid to give away some of their best stuff.

Share tidbits of real information related to your area of expertise. If you're a label, don't just push records. Instead offer information about your artists or candid photos. If you're a writer, offer tips on how to write great chorus. Share enough of your knowledge to let people know you're the real deal. It's the fastest way to draw them to your website where you can then connect with them or sell your products.

If you consistently follow these three business practices while interacting on Twitter, you are all but guaranteed to grow your business. Twitter is really all about interaction and relationships are all about give and take and showing respect. Using good business sense and common courtesy in your Twitter affairs will gain you not only followers and clients, but respect for your business as well.

How to Connect with Music Business Big Shots

Yesterday, I posted an interview I did with Anastasia Brown, a music supervisor for both major studio films and television.

At the end of the interview, during the last ten minutes or so, she gave her contact information and mentioned that she listens to music online, to find the perfect song for what she is doing.

Obviously, if you're looking to get your music used in film and television projects, contact information for a music supervisor like Anastasia is a good thing to have.  But what's the best way to use it?

For a situation like this, your best bet is to refrain from skipping to the last ten minutes and check out the entire thing, where Anastasia talks about her work with Keith Urban, her husband (who also works in the music business), her time as a judge on Nashville Star, and her new book.  This way you'll get a feel for who she is as a person, not just what the end result of her job could mean to you.  Then you'll be able to approach her, hopefully with some "common ground."

Why?  People like those who care about them as people and see them more than just a nameless, faceless "guard" who holds the key to the vault.

Continuing with Anastasia as an example, if you really want to make a connection with her, I suggest buying her book (Make Me a Star: Industry Insiders Tell How to Make the Cut, Make the Deal, and Make It in Music) and finding some a "pivot point" that you'll be able to leverage for instant rapport.  Something like buying a book (in this example) is what I refer to as "reciprocity" and it's one of the most successful ways to sell anything, including yourself.

So what is reciprocity?  Wikipedia says, "In social psychology, reciprocity refers to responding to a positive action with another positive action, and responding to a negative action with another negative one. Positive reciprocal actions differ from altruistic actions as those only follow from other positive actions and they differ from social gift giving in that those are not actions taken with the hope or expectation of future positive responses."

But let me give you a definition that might be a little easier for you to understand...

Anastasia wants to sell her book.  You buy her book, which is something nice you've done for her.  Because of this nice act, she'll be more likely to do something nice for you, such as listen to your music or use it in one of her film/TV projects.

This is a very simplistic view with a basic example, but you get the idea.  And obviously, you've got to have good music.  You can't polish a turd and she can't put total crap in a major studio film, right?   But doing something nice for somebody, without asking for something in return, is something that works wonders when building a connection and will give you an advantage when it comes to getting the help you need.

Of course, reciprocity works both ways.  If you approach somebody with a "gimme gimme" attitude, like you just want something and aren't willing to give anything in return, it's likely you won't get far.

Sounds obvious, right?  Yet the "gimme gimme" attitude is exactly how most musicians approach things.

If you don't give anything, don't expect anybody to give you anything.

And your music isn't enough, by the way.  This isn't about your music.

A music supervisor doesn't care about your music, regardless of how well the song is written or how great the recording is.  The only thing that matters is music supervision is finding something which adds to the scene-- music or not.

So stop talking about yourself, your music, and how great you and your music are.  This isn't about you or your music.  If you want to build a connection with a music supervisor, your need to help her find  the something which adds to the scene.  So find out what is needed for the scene and provide it.

That may mean that you refrain from pitching your "perfect song."  And if you can't come up with something that is a perfect match on your own, it may mean referring somebody else, somebody who has the perfect song, to the opportunity.  You'll miss the instant payoff, but be better off in the long run.

Think about it... When somebody is looking out for you and your best interest, aren't you more likely to trust them in the future?

That's how you build relationships.

For more on reciprocity, and specific examples of how you can use it to get your music in the hands of radio programmers, record label executives, and others in the music business, you'll want to be on my free teleconference next week.  Lines to call in on are limited, so if you want to talk to me personally, you'll need to register early.

You've got two ways to stay informed about this...

1. Subscribe to my feed. It's free and this will make sure you're instantly updated when I post a new video or other information on licensing music.

2. Sign up for email updates.  Not everything, such as the direct contact information for music supervisors will be posted here. 

Input your name and primary email address below.  That way you'll be sure to stay on top of everything I release.

NOTE: You can unsubscribe from this list at any time, with a simple click. :)

   

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Assholes

Just got back last night from a few days in Los Angeles...  Whenever I travel, not just to LA, I've noticed that more and more people simply don't have time for anything or anyone, which they perceive to be outside of their current tasks.

For example, on this trip, I was walking along beside a guy near the taxi/shuttle pickup area and asked him a very quick, yes or no, question about the correct area for me to wait for my shuttle...

No reply.

And things like that happened a few times over the course of this trip.

I understand that an airport like LAX has a lot of people who may not speak English.  Or maybe he was deaf.  There are a million reasons he didn't say something back to me, but I thought it was a good reminder to post an important message here...

Don't be an asshole.

And perhaps more important than that, be approachable.  You never know who is around you...especially when you're at an airport.

I get to LA at least every three months.  The last time I was there, I was behind a guy who was having problems with the check-in kiosk.  We started talking and it turned out he was in the music business.  But not just anybody in the music business...he was the manager of a top name rock band and, like me, travels between LA and Nashville on a regular basis.

These are good kinds of connections to have, right?  And they're all around you, every time you travel.

Actually, they're all around you every time you leave your house.

So be approachable...

Thoughts?  Good stories of how you've connected with others in the music business?  Post them here.

By the way, if you're like to "follow" me on my travels and day-to-day stuff, check out my Twitter page.  Not only will you be up-to-date on what I'm up to, you'll also get great examples of marketing that you can use in your music business.

Music Business Radio 100th Episode Party - What You Missed

A big thanks to the 400+ musicians, songwriters, and other music business professionals who showed up last night to celebrate the 100th episode of Music Business Radio.  And a big thanks to BMI, especially Jody Williams, Erica Glidewell, and Nancy Moore, for allowing us to use their building.

We've been working on the show for every three years and it's been on the air for over two.  For me, time has flown by and a big reason for that is the AMAZING staff-- producer Gary Kraen, engineer Dan Buckley, editor Justin Hammel, and production coordinator Paige Presley.  Plus, we've had amazing support from Tuned In Broadcasting and our flagship station, Lightning 100 in Nashville-- owner Lester Turner, Program Director David Hall, Music Director Keith Coes, Promotion Director Jayson Chalfant, Laurel Creech of Team Green, Event Coordinator Keeley Reed, General Manager Fred Buc, Sales Manager Ken Austin, Marketing Consultants Tich McWilliams, Lesli Bills, and Cindy Felts, Business Manager Nadine Barbour, Director of Media and Technology Tom Hansen, and Media Content Coordinator Brian Waters.

Last night's event was a first of many, so watch for more soon.  As the show continues to be syndicated on broadcast radio stations throughout the country, we'll be taking thing on the road.

We gave away a lot of stuff, including guitars by Waterstone, scholarships to the Music Producers Institute, and other prizes from sponsors including Big Studios, and Avenue Bank.  Nobody left hungry or thirsty...  But the real value of last night's event was the networking.  Tons of "top shelf" people were in the audience.

See photos from the Music Business Radio 100th Episode Party here.

Make sure you don't miss out on MBR episodes or the next live event.  Subscribe to the MBR podcast.

Thanks again to everybody who showed up.  Looking forward to more events soon!

Yes, it's Worth Making a Trip...

Have gotten enough emails on this that I think it's worth posting here...

Yes, even if you have to come from out of town, the Music Business Radio event next week is worth coming to.

Yes, all genres of music will be represented.  It's in Nashville, but you guys have heard the show-- we deal with a lot more than just country music.

But with that said, if you're in country music, you really need to be here.

It's easy to get online and think you're in the music business, but this is a business of relationships...and relationships develop best when you're in a face-to-face situation such as what we're doing this Wednesday.  If you're within a few hours by car, or have the means to fly in, I suggest making the effort to be here.

Rarely will you find so many important people (producers, managers, record label executives, etc) gathered in one place.  Sure, parties are common in the music business, but how many events at this level do you have access to?

Next week, I'll be posting photos from the event.  I want you in those photos-- not saying to yourself, "I missed out."

If you have any questions, feel free to post them here.  I'll personally get back to you with an answer.

And for those who want the official invite...

Please note:

This invite is being sent to people who are in the business and know where BMI is, which is why there is no address on it.  So just to make sure you know where to go...

BMI Nashville
10 Music Square East (View Map)
Nashville, TN 37203-4399
(615) 401-2000

Expand Your Online Network

Recently posted this via Everyday 15, but it's important, so it's worth posting here as well...

Alexa is a service which tracks web traffic.  You can get this information directly in your web browser via a toolbar plugin.  This toolbar can also help you find related sites, which is a great way to expand your online network and find out about music business resources you never knew existed.

How to do it...

1. Download the Alexa toolbar and install it.

2. Visit popular music business web sites and look under the "related links" section to find even more sites, which you might not be aware of.

Need somewhere to start?  Try these...

• Everyday 15 - Music Promotion Tips
• Music Business Radio
• Derek Sivers from CD Baby
• Music Think Tank

Find something interesting?  Post the link in the comments section!

MySpace is Dead

Yes, MySpace is dead for musicians. 

I've got more thoughts here...

Plus, I'm going to show you what the next big trend for musicians is and get you step-by-step info on how you can take advantage of it...if that's what you want.

This isn't for everybody.  Those who want to dominate the "next big thing" though have a REAL opportunity.

Had you done that with MySpace, you'd have a record deal right now.

Don't miss out this time around...

Music Industry Directory - Twitter

This thread contains a list of musicians, songwriters, bands, and other music industry people who are using Twitter.  People like me, David Hooper.

If you're on Twitter, leave a comment with your URL in the body of the message to be added.

And while you're here, make sure you read Twitter - How Musicians Can Use it to Get More People to Gigs.