Brilliant Marketing Idea: Present a Brag About Your [...] Day!

Denise Wakeman is a business blogging and online marketing advisor. I've had the good fortune of meeting her at book conferences where we both presented.

Last year she started doing something on Facebook that I thought was brilliant. In fact, she does it once a month.

To explain what it is, here's the beginning of a post on her Facebook fan page:

"It's Brag About Your Blog Day! Every month I invite you to post a link to your blog ..."

Every time she does this, hundreds of people take her up on the offer. I did too. See for yourself on this page.

What a great way to promote others, spread some good will, and bring attention to herself and what she does at the same time!

Hmm ... I wonder how a music promoter could use this idea?

Well, I immediately thought that I should do a "Brag About Your Band Day" or "Brag About Your Music Day." That would fit perfectly with my target audience.

But what about your audience?

If you teach guitar lessons, how about a "Brag About Your Guitar Day"? If you run a recording studio, maybe "Brag About Your New Track."

If you perform hip-hop, you could do a "What's Your Favorite Hip-Hop Album Day" or "Who's Your Favorite Hip-Hop Artist Day."

You could also do a more general "Brag About Your City Day" or "Brag About Your Favorite T-Shirt Day" ... or you could create link love for other performers and do your own version of "Brag About Your Music Day."

The possibilities are endless. So just pick one ... and try it. Then let me know how it went.

-Bob

How Danika Holmes Got On the Main Stage of the Heartland Jam Music Festival

I love stories like this that demonstrate what's possible when you mix a little creative thinking with action.

Danika Holmes is an up-and-coming indie artist from Iowa. She had a desire to perform as an opening act on the main stage of the Heartland Jam Music Festival, to be held this weekend in Davenport. This year's festival will feature Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Phil Vassar, Gretchen Wilson, and more.

She made attempts to contact the festival talent buyer, but heard nothing back. At times like these, the vast majority of musicians give up and say, "Oh well, I tried. They aren't interested."


But not Danika. "I decided to take matters into my own hands and let the Heartland Jam know I was serious."

Danika explains, "At around 4:00 AM on a Wednesday we launched an impromptu Facebook campaign. The idea was simple. We asked our fans to post to Heartland Jam’s Facebook page, 'Bring Danika to the Heartland Jam!' By 8:00 that evening nearly 100 people had posted to Heartland Jam’s page showing their support."

The result: By 9:00 that night Danika got an email from the festival promoter that read, "Wow! Your fans have surely spoken!" The next day her band was booked as the main stage opening act for the festival!

"Talk about the power of the people!" Danika says.

Of course, the Facebook campaign alone probably didn't secure the slot for her. Danika had a solid website filled with video clips, photos, and music samples. I'm sure that's what sealed the deal.

But the primary lesson here is that she didn't take silence (meaning no response from the buyer) as a final NO.

It would have been easy to think, "Well, I did what I could. I guess it wasn't meant to be." Instead, Danika asked herself a more empowering question: "What else can I do to get their attention and prove that I am worthy of this slot?"

And asking her fans and friends to step up and help was the perfect way to do it. It demonstrated that she has a supportive fan base, which indicated that she is a serious artist worth checking out.

Are you stopping short of a more creative approach to getting what you want?

And, in what ways are you laying a solid foundation (in the form of killer song samples, music videos, cool photos, active gigging schedule, an attractive website, and more) that will let people know you are a serious music contender?

I welcome your comments!

You can learn more about Danika Holmes at http://www.DanikaHolmes.com/.

-Bob

Top 3 Goal-Setting Tips for Musicians

I just ran across a good review of Brian Tracy's book Goals! It was written by Trent Hamm on his Simple Dollar site.

Here are some of my favorite nuggets from the review:

1) Associate with the Right People

"The people you most closely associate with often set the standard for what you want out of life ... Surround yourself with people who embody what you want to achieve.”

Yes! Attitudes are contagious. That's why it’s a great idea to attend music conferences, networking events, songwriter nights, etc. To reach your goals you should regularly rub elbows with other proactive music people, interact, share resources, and inspire one another.

2) Make a Plan of Action

"Write your goal down, then write a detailed plan for achieving it. The more detail, the better. Can you boil it down to daily steps or individual actions? The smaller the pieces, the easier it is to grab hold of and pull yourself towards your goal, one bit at a time.”

Here's one more ...

3) Review Your Goals Daily

"Take time every day to review the goals you’re working on. I do this by writing in a journal and keeping tabs on a few key goals every single day. I have a section where I write 'Goal #1' followed by a sentence on my progress, then 'Goal #2' ... It forces me to think about each goal every day.”

Great advice from Brian Tracy via Trent Hamm. Put these into practice and you will make progress!

What other goal setting tips do you recommend? What has helped you reach your goals? I welcome your comments.

-Bob