Music Marketing

Musicians: Stop Building An Email List

image from www.clker.comGuest post by Chris Rockett of Music Marketing Classroom.

I know the title of this post may seem a little bit weird considering I have been banging on about fan capture for the past guzumteen years, but hear me out…

Something was buzzing around my head this morning that I probably stole from somewhere but let's pretend that's it my own original thought ;-). Here goes…

You need to stop building an email list…or in other words you need to stop thinking about it like a LIST.

Just to be clear…there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that having a way to connect with your fans instantly is your most important asset…but actually thinking about them like a LIST makes them sound like groceries and does not help you on your mission to entertain and delight them.

This "list building" approach kind of turns them into an abstract bunch of 1s and 0s who are only there to line your pockets with gold.

We need to think about each of those little Gmail accounts as another person who has a whole other life and is bored and waiting for you to come and add a little color. Each and every one represents a spark of interest in your creativity which is a very special thing.

It's hard to love a list…and you MUST love your fans because they are going to look after you when you're old and grey.

In traditional marketing the term for new potential customers who give you a way to follow up with them is…

"Prospect"

But this term is not that helpful in the music business because it implies that the only positive thing that a fan can do for you is to buy your stuff.

This might be true if you're in the car insurance game but at the end of the day we're trying to give something of artistic value to the world, and it's my personal opinion that if someone listens to my stuff and it makes them happy then my mission is complete even if they never spend a penny.

Plus…there's more than one way to skin a beaver:

=> they might pass on your stuff to their friends
=> they may click on an ad that provides a little income
=> they might call their local radio station to request your music

Love your list!

The love you show them will come back to you by the truck full.

So if not an email list then what?

Let's play a little game for a minute and call this band of internet astronauts a FRIEND LIST.

By default you will treat a friend 100x better that icky DATA…

This simple little mindset shift will automatically change the way you think about marketing your music and mean that everything you do is more effective and powerful….

You need another why? well here are SEVEN…

…because you are honest with friends

you tell them about cool stuff

you send links to things you know they'll like

look out for them

you do them favors

you send them a happy birthday card

…and if you suggest something is worth buying they are much more likely to be interested.

The cool thing is that if you treat people that well then after a while the "friend" feeling will be mutual and they'll want to answer your emails and help you out if they see an opportunity.

This will set you apart from the crowd and draw even more people into your clan because they are used to being treated like online crap by crooks who have a…

…"buy my shit or you leave" attitude.

Most people can smell that stinky poo a mile off.

The friendly approach makes music marketing fun and something that you WANT to do everyday rather than just an endless mashing of buttons with a side order of disappointments.

There are many music marketing articles out there that will teach you how to get fans onto your list, so take all that stuff and put it into action… and then when you have those people, see each one as a new best friend.

That's the secret blend of spices that will make your music marketing unbelievably tasty and morish.

The internet is only a tool for building your career quickly, but the foundation of any successful artistic endeavor has always been building a solid base of followers who hang off your every word.

It's been the same for all of history and it's not going to change anytime soon, because who wants "New Coke" when the old one is still the most delicious way to rot your teeth?

Here's what you need to do now….

If you're ever stuck for what to send your fans in the future just think about what you've been talking about with friends over the last couple of weeks and start there.

This is one of those lessons that people told me when I first started learning marketing and I guess I was a little bit like "Oh yeah whoopee doo make friends blah blah!"…

So if this is a little bit conceptual and far out for you right now, try this:

Each time you send an email to your fans, ask yourself if you would send that same message to your best friend?…that will keep you on the straight and narrow, young Skywalker.

A big list don't mean a cool music career if you're the virtual stinky kid who nobody wants to talk to.

Your action point is just to think of your fans as friends…that's it, mission complete and time for pudding.

Talk soon,

– Chris

P.S If you enjoyed this and want to learn more check out my free Music Marketing Cheat Sheets.

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14 Comments

  1. Amen, brother! And the next step is to connect that community of fans with each other. Building one to one relationships with fans is the first step. The real magic starts when you connect individual fans with one another. That’s where good fan club management and direct artist participation are crucial. The results are of the indirect nature at first, but undeniable in the long run.

  2. It’s a decent article, but your attitude towards your fans honestly stinks when you say “We need to think about each of those little Gmail accounts as another person who has a whole other life and is bored and waiting for you to come and add a little color.”
    How arrogant does that sound?
    My fans aren’t bored and waiting and I refuse to think like someone with a Messiah complex.
    My fans have a lot of things they could be doing besides thinking about me or enjoying my music, so I am truly grateful when they do so.

  3. Personally, I don’t charge my friends money for stuff.
    There’s a lot to be said for having a good automated infrastructure in place to deal with incoming fans. There’s also a great deal more to be said for building, maintaining and segmenting email lists.
    Assuming you’re into making money off music, of course, otherwise, friends are definitely the only sane way to go.

  4. Nice. It’s not about the mechanics, it’s about breaking up a rigid way of thinking with a helpful if not complete metaphor. Another way of thinking, it’s putting the why in front of the what. This advice applies just as well to any scrappy venture.

  5. That’s a very important point Rob, I think Seth Godin calls that your “Tribe”.
    If you’ve not read it, that’s a great book.
    – Chris

  6. That is a killer article, I highly recommend anyone who reads my thing should also take a look.
    I tweeted this to my peeps and linked on Facebook.
    Thanks for sharing, I think you’re right that this point can’t be hammered home enough.
    – Chris
    P.S I also added your blog to my Google reader and looking forward to more stuff. Let me know if you have something to guest post on my site.

  7. Hey P, thanks for your comment and calling me arrogant 😉
    I think maybe the spirit of fun in which this article was written may have been lost in the translation.
    If you don’t agree with me feel free to ignore every word.
    In my defense approaching your fans as if they are board will just put you in the right mindset to entertain them.
    You know that I don’t really think that everybody in the world is my disciple and I’m the only one who can make them happy, that’s not the impression I’m trying to give at all.
    But when I create content with the intention of making people smile it just comes out better.
    I totally agree with you that it’s very cool when somebody takes the time to support your music, I think that’s what the whole article is kind of about.
    Not sure if any of that makes you think I’m a cool dude now, but looking forward to chatting more with you.
    – Chris

  8. Hey Justin,
    I think you probably recommend things to your friends that they end up buying, and they are more likely to buy because they trust you.
    That’s really the point of this.
    As for segmenting your fans, that’s a great idea.
    I put my buying fans on a new list and then offer higher end products.
    That’s just good business because they have put up their hand and shown a little more commitment.
    Thanks for you comment.
    – Chris

  9. Fair enough, Chris.
    I didn’t think you were an arrogant guy judging by the rest of your article, but I felt those words were poorly chosen.
    I still don’t think of my fans as bored, so I’d better entertain them. I think of them as having infinite entertainment options, so I’D BETTER ENTERTAIN THEM.
    Two different mindsets with the same result, so we could just be viewing two different sides of the same coin.
    I’ll leave it at that.
    No offence intended with my first post.

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