As an indie musician, creating a blog may not be on the top of your priority list, writes Dave Kusek of the New Artists Model. But, a blog can actually be an incredibly powerful tool in your promotional mix! Let’s take a look at just how versatile a blog can be.
Above all, your blog is a publishing platform that will let you serve your audience with frequent and regular content to tell your story, showcase your music, and expand on your ideas. It also allows you to differentiate yourself and show your fans the person behind the music. It’s a place where you can connect with your fans through music and your interests and even attract new fans.
A blog is also a great way to authentically and creatively link to your offers – the music, merch, and tickets you have for sale – as well as the offers you have to sign up to your email list. The more your fans are exposed to your offers, the more likely they are to go for it.
Obscurity Is Your Enemy
As a musician, your number one problem is getting your music in front of new people and potential fans. Obscurity is your enemy. So, the real question you need to be solving is, how are you going to get people to care about your work?
There are so many musicians and bands out there, all vying for attention. How do you break through the noise and get people to even know you exist?
The worst thing that you can do is to constantly push your music in people’s faces. You know – like those musicians who are constantly repeating listen to my songs, check out my new track, or buy my music like a broken record.
Has that ever gotten you, as a fan, interested in someone else’s music? Probably not.
I want you to think of your interactions with your fans like a relationship. Just like a real relationship, it takes time to develop and you can’t just expect to take, take, take. Simply put, people connect with people who have something interesting to say beyond “dig me.”
A blog is a great tool for you to use to connect with people on many different levels. It will let you show the person behind the music, the process behind the song, and the meaning behind the lyrics. It’s a place for longer-form content (compared to social media where you’re usually limited), and that means you have more freedom to express yourself and share your story.
Two Blogging Approaches
As an engagement tool, blogging can serve two different purposes.
- Blogging is the chance to get your fans more invested in your career from an emotional standpoint. If you want to lead them down the path to become a superfan you want to give them a really exclusive and personal experience here. Let them in on the process and see the artist behind the music they listen to.
- Or on the other side, your blog might be what attracts people to your site in the first place before they even hear your music. Informative blog posts like “How to Mic a Drum Set,” or “How to Make Beats in Logic” might draw new potential fans in and get them interested in your music through that initial touch-point.
Blogging gives you a way to stick out in someone’s mind – a way to frame your music and provide some context to what you do and why. The more people understand about what makes you tick, the more interested they might be in checking out your songs. Your blog gives fans a connection point. It provides context and a method for you to tell your story in ways your music cannot.
Building Your SEO With Your Blog
Another good reason to blog is to boost your site’s SEO. The more you blog, the more Google will find you, and the higher in the search results your website will appear based on the keywords, titles, and content of your blog posts.
Google cannot search the content of audio files – at least not just yet. So you need to think of your blog as part of your voice to help provide context for your music, and a way to lead people to you in a way that makes them want to connect. You need all the help that you can get to break through the noise, and well constructed blog posts can be just the ticket.
4 Blog Post Ideas for Indie Musicians
Here are 4 ideas that almost any musician can write about to get your mind started and help you think of things that YOU might want to write about.
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What other musicians inspire you and why? This can be a good way to attract search traffic by writing about popular artists and songs and then weaving in some references to your music and and your songs. They don’t have to be super-famous musicians – they could even be unknown local bands who are producing great music. This could also be a cool way to unlock collaborations and cross promotions with other musicians and bands as well. Maybe make a Spotify playlist with a good mix of your music and some artists that have inspired those tracks. Not only will this be fun for your fans to listen through, it will also help build up your Spotify presence.
- Profile and review your gear. Depending on your audience, you fans may be interested in the technology and gear you use in your music. You may have already received questions from fans on social media about what pedals you’re using, what programs you use, and what amplifiers you use to get your signature sound. Give them what they want and turn it into blog posts! Plus, you’ll be focusing in on key search questions that will funnel new potential fans to your site.
- Share your interests. You can also blog about other things you are passionate about that tie into your music. Maybe you’re supporting a charity with profits from a certain song, or the lyrics of one of your songs is raising awareness for a cause you believe in. This can help you build an audience around a joint interest which can help get people to know about you first as a compassionate person, and then as a musician.
- Behind the scenes. And of course, you can always blog about your recording process, your most recent gig, stories from the road, or how crazy your bandmates are. I think you get the idea.
Harness Your Writing Skills
Now some of you might be thinking, That sounds great, but I’m not good at writing blog posts! But I want to ask you something. Have you ever done any work with lyrics? It’s the same skill set, and you’ve already got it!
And if you’re a performer, or an instrumentalist, or you’re still just not comfortable writing, keep in mind your blog posts can include pictures or can even be videos or podcasts. They don’t have to be pure text. Whatever you are most comfortable with, go for it! When you think about it, a podcast is just audio – and you know how to record, edit, and mix audio!
The important thing is to post new content on your blog on a regular and consistent basis so fans can gain some insight into your career and who you are as an artist. Draw them into your world.
Of course, blogging is just one element of promoting your music. If you want more ideas to raise awareness for your music and stand out online, you can download the How to Promote Your Music ebook. Inside you’ll find tons of examples and ideas of social media posts you can use and 3 music promotion checklists to get you started.
If you want to learn more about promoting your music and building your audience, check out the Music Business Accelerator course. It’s like a musician’s MBA. This crash course is designed especially for musicians to teach all the practical stuff you need to know to promote your music and execute your projects. But unlike an MBA, you can go at your own pace to fit in with your busy life on the road or in the studio or working a day job.