IOTM Blog
Posted: Sep 19, 2016
Category: The Musician Business
grassrootsy mailing list providers make money merch newsletters online presence posters practice professionalism website improvement
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"We’ve been working on this list for a while and thought it was high time to share it. Keep in mind that this post is primarily for the working musician..." View Full Article
Posted: Jul 18, 2016
Category: Social Media
facebook grassrootsy hashtags know your audience promotion relationships with fans social media twitter
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"What’s the deal with hashtags? Some of us have never hated the pound (#) sign more than we do right this minute. Some of us love it! Still others of us have no clue what it means or how it’s used in the world of social media. Well today we are going to explore the hashtag. Think of this as Hashtag 101!"
View Full ArticlePosted: Jun 21, 2016
Category: Show Booking
be patient be realistic be strategic branding cold pitching grassrootsy hometown national acts pay attention show booking touring
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"Nailing big opportunities is one of the major things that kickstarts the career of an independent artist. Sometimes it’s having a video go viral. Other times it’s falling under the good graces of someone who knows someone. But sometimes it’s getting to open for a national touring act and getting your name out to a larger audience of new listeners...here are 7 excellent tips for making it happen."
View Full ArticlePosted: Nov 9, 2015
Category: Live Performance
ask fans fan engagement grassrootsy house shows live performances make money newsletters postcards social media
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"For a while there, house concerts were a trendy idea for independent artists that caught on pretty quickly...But now house concerts are actually becoming the primary means for many artists to make their living...Here are 5 ways that I’ve used to generate solid house concert leads." View Full Article
Posted: Jul 20, 2015
Category: The Musician Business
freelance grassrootsy health insurance know your options obamacare
**Guest post written Aly Keller, an avid pianist, musicologist, and marketing analyst, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"Turns out, musicians often do make that decision [medical debt or a musical career]. Last year, 43% of them lacked insurance. And this is in the post-ACA (“Obamacare”) environment where health insurance has never been more accessible to employer-less freelancers. But is health insurance something you really want to go without?"
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 27, 2015
Category: Live Performance
advanced tickets bar coffeehouse diy grassrootsy house shows music album release music festivals show booking
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"...we thought it would be important to talk about the different types of shows out there and give you a comprehensive understanding of the types of shows you should be taking at certain stages in your career depending on what city you are in and depending on the timing. Yea, that’s a mouthful, but stick with us and you*ll get what we mean..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Feb 17, 2015
Category: Promotion
call-to-action direct to fan free downloads grassrootsy newsletters promotion website improvement ymlp
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"QUESTION: My name is Jefrey, writing from NYC...Just wanted to ask a quick question - do you consistently see results with the direct to fan marketing with getting emails-for-mp3’s via a squeeze page?"
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 6, 2015
Category: Advanced Ticketing
advanced tickets buying incentives grassrootsy marketing no surcharge paypal promotion
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"Oftentimes people don’t understand the importance of pre-sales...But pre-sales are important because they help you the artist gauge how well your promo is going, help the venue determine how busy the night is and how many employees they need to staff the room, and help both you and the venue determine if it will be a well-attended, successful show. Here are some tips for encouraging pre-sales and making sure your show is a success even before it even happens..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jul 14, 2014
Category: Promotion
blogs cold pitching grassrootsy marketing persistence promotion publicist
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"...the question you’re asking is: “How do I get write-ups when nobody knows who I am?” Well I’d like to pose 4 different answers to your question..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 3, 2014
Category: Show Booking
booking agents draw music business selling your act show booking tour booking touring strategy touring tips grassrootsy
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
THE QUESTION: I have a question that I hope someone here can help me with. After you’ve sent an email and you don’t hear back for a week or two, is it ok to resend the same email in the case that it got lost in the shuffle? I don’t want to come off as being pushy, but I want to make sure that they actually received the email.
THE ANSWER: Art, this is a really great question that I think a lot of people struggle with. It’s hard to know how to follow up on a email when you don’t know if it was ever read, if it reached the correct person, or if the receiver purposely didn’t get back to you. So we’ve got a few suggestions on what you can do...
View Full ArticlePosted: Dec 2, 2013
Category: Show Booking
grassrootsy music business show booking tour booking touring strategy touring tips
**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.
"STEP 1: Perfect your performance. Play as many open stages as you can to network with others and solidify your stage presence. Become a familiar face and make sure you get to really know the people. Give this a 6-month time period." Click the title to read numbers 2-7, including an in-depth description of each crucial step...
View Full Article