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peace of mind? Put yourself in the customer s shoes.
Bottom line: Determine the real motivating feeling  the key benefit  that people
experience when they spend time and money on you. Does your music make them
feel good? If so, in what way? Does it give them a recreational escape from their
worries? Does it allow them to hang onto something they re afraid of losing, such
as youth, sex appeal or an outlet for their frustrations?
Ask your fans more questions, make more observations, do your homework, and
use your head. Discovering the key motivations that draw your fans to you will
help you discover your road to success in the music business.
Affirm your commitment to step 2:
 Just knowing who my fans are is not enough. I now do whatever it takes to
uncover the personal and emotional benefits that motivate people to spend time
and money on my music. Discovering these hot buttons allows me to more
effectively market the music I have to offer.
3) Create and use a Brand Identity Statement (BIS)
Think of your band or music business as the steel tip of a dart. Now visualize that
the people of the world are spread out across a giant wall filled with thousands of
dartboards. Each dartboard represents a specific demographic group. For instance,
one might be teenagers who like hard rock music while another symbolizes adults
who enjoy the blues. Other dartboards might include fans of folk, bluegrass, acid
jazz, punk, smooth R&B, and so on.
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Key: When you market your music, it s your job to aim the tip of your dart directly
at the bull s-eye of the dartboards that represent your ideal fans. You do this by
sending targeted messages to the newspapers, magazines, radio stations, web
sites, blogs, podcasts, and e-zines used by potential fans.
That s the whole point of all this soul-searching research. Once you know who
you re ideal fans are, you can determine what forms of media they patronize. Then
send focused messages through those channels.
But what kind of messages do you send? Most people who market independent
music make one of two mistakes. They either:
1) Throw their dart randomly all over the wall and accomplish little or nothing,
or &
2) Aim their dart at the proper boards, but the message is so weak, the dart
doesn t stick to any of them
The solution: Create a Brand Identity Statement (BIS) about your music. A BIS is
a simple but powerful sentence of no more than 15 words (10 words or less is
even better) that describes the specific vision of your songs, image, band or record
label. If you could take every feature and beneficial aspect associated with your
music and run them through a grinder, only to be left with the pure, concentrated
essence of you and your music ... that would be your BIS.
You should craft your BIS to include a benefit statement to your fans. Two well-
known BISs from the traditional business world are Domino s  Fresh, hot pizza
delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed (13 words) and M&M s
 Melts in your mouth, not in your hands (eight words).
The BIS I use to promote my TheBuzzFactor.com web site is  Music marketing tips
and self-promotion ideas for independent songwriters, musicians and bands. For
my Artist Empowerment Radio podcast, I use  Self-promotion tips and inspiration
for musicians, artists, writers and creative people of all kinds.
Examples: Here are a few possible Brand Identity Statements for bands:
·ð ð  Old-school funk for people who like to dance
·ð ð  Green Day meets Sinatra at a rodeo
·ð ð  Erotic techno grooves for sensuous souls
Other BISs might include the following:
·ð ð A recording studio could use  High-quality demos for bands on a budget.
·ð ð A solo artist targeting bar owners might use  Riveting acoustic folk music to
help you sell more beer.
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·ð ð A small ticket agency s BIS could be  Convenient access to the great shows
the big promoters miss.
You can use your Brand Identity Statement in two ways. One is internal; the other
external.
·ð ð Internal  Having a BIS keeps you focused on your marketing message.
Therefore, every time you write a news release, set up a photo session, do
a radio interview, or design an album cover, you make certain your vision
stays focused on your core identity. You wouldn t want your album cover to
convey humor while the faces in your band photo look grim and serious.
Also, using a BIS keeps your marketing message tight and consistent. You
don t want to send out a news release about your band s new online
resource for ska fans, then do a radio interview and end up talking only
about the night you met Pat Sajak. By constantly referring to your BIS, you
make sure the messages you send stay focused on the most potent aspects
of your music. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]