20
Steps To Creating A Successful Blog
For Songwriters, Artists &
Bands
by
Lance Trebesch
Part
2 of 2 /continued from PART
ONE
This
is part two of how to build a successful blog. Part one talks about
setting up the blog in the right format to gain reader interest.
This section discusses promotion techniques and how to keep your
readers.
1. Ask people to
subscribe. RSS
feeds allow users to subscribe to your blog and receive an update
when you add new blogs. This makes it convenient for readers so
they do not need to check for blog updates. An alternative is to
send the updated blog through email, so having both an email subscription
and a RSS feed is necessary. Also, make the sign-up process simple
and prominent. Display the RSS button everywhere and occasionally
mention it in your posts to sign-up. The simpler the process to
sign-up, the more chance the reader will go through with the process.
2.
Offer an incentive to sign-up. Take an example for Marketing
Pilgrim, by offering a $600 cash giveaway by signing-up for a RSS
feed. The code to register for the money is in an RSS-only message.
Receiving $600 free is pretty convincing to sign-up. Other options
to get people to sign up are free e-books related to your topic
("How to Get a Record Deal"), or send a personalized autographed
picture of you or the band to those who sign-up.
3.
Comment on forums. Comment on blogs. Comment on chats.
And comment by providing a link back your blog. By injecting your
opinion and showing your personality through these comments, people
will notice you and want to find out more. Make sure the comments
are meaningful and not just some form of spam to create a link back
to you. People appreciate when an expert adds their knowledge, so
write truthful comments that will help the audience. Comments are
the biggest promotion of your blog in the beginning months of the
blog.
4.
Leave blogs open for discussion. If compiling a list,
ask for comments to add their suggestions for the list. The 5
Rules of Social Media Optimization (SMO) blog by Influential
Marketing Blog became instantly popular by people linking to it,
posting comments and recommending the blog. After writing a general
blog that does not include a list, ask a question at the end to
encourage comments and blog discussion. The more, interesting discussion,
the more people will link to your blog, promoting it.
5.
Respond to comments. Read your comments daily and respond
when someone asks a question to you through the comments. Once you
start getting a steady reader base that begins posting comments,
do not discourage them by never responding back. Respond rapidly
to make your reader happy.
6.
Start a podcast. A podcast
is a great way to promote both your blog and your music. Podcasts
are an audio blog, but you should not update it as often as your
blogs (unless you just want to run an audio blog exclusively). On
the podcast, talk about interesting subjects related to your blog
and mention your music often. Play a fraction of your music just
prior to and just after your podcast, promoting both your music
and your blog.
7.
Invite guest bloggers. Be a guest blogger. Your blog
gains interest if you occasionally - monthly, quarterly - invite
guest bloggers to write. Your business pals become a good place
to start when thinking about guest bloggers. The guests then feel
flattered by your interest in them and in return promote your blog
or music. On the other hand, ask your business friends to guest
blog for them, which immensely promotes your music or blog through
their site. Whenever you get an opportunity to guest blog, take
it (SEOmoz).
8.
Add videos, pictures, MP3s, etc. Just having words on
every blog gets boring. Perk reader's interest by putting a funny
YouTube video in your blog, adding a unique MP3 or taking a snapshot
of the website you mention in the blog. Any item out of the norm
to create a change will boost your blog's appeal. Every once in
awhile, make your blog a video-blog through YouTube where you narrate
the blog (and act as well). You can also create a music
video for you or the band and advertise it through your blog.
9.
Use tracking software and analyze. Find out how many
people are visiting your blogs and which ones generate the most
traffic. You should re-create titles and content that receives many
views. The tracking software can also tell you how people are hearing
about your blog, through Digg, Google, etc. It can give you a great
insight on your viewers and many other marketing hints if you are
creative.
10.
Build a brand. You want people to recognize your blog
as an object, not just another blog. Make your blog worthwhile to
the reader. Promote the blog with any sources you have. Tell your
friends, family and strangers about it. On your website, promote
your blog and on your blog promote your website. Do the same with
social networking sites, YouTube videos, podcasts, live performances,
etc. By marketing in a bunch of different places, you spread your
name and have more sources to promote your blog and music.
Your
blog will only see success if you follow all these steps and promote
it as often as possible. Blogging takes a lot of dedication but
pays off in the end with increased music sales. Never stop blogging
and remember, you are writing for your audience.
<>
©
Lance Trebesch Lance, CEO of TicketPrinting.com
E-mail: lance@ticketprinting.com
Great
American Song Contest
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