IOTM Blog
Posted: Sep 13, 2022
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Wes Walls of Bandzoogle.
"Once you have created a music website, you can take your online presence a step further by optimizing your band's ranking in search engines. This is called SEO for musicians, and it makes it easier for your fans to find the information about you that they want. Whether you want to discover the best SEO keywords for musicians, or just start making your songs, social profiles and events show up in Google, this checklist will help you to get started."
View Full ArticlePosted: Feb 1, 2021
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan of MakingMoneyWithMusic.com. Originally featured in the Disc Makers Blog. Reprinted with permission.
"While you hear a lot about independent musicians and how you can build a music career with a do-it-yourself mentality, doing it yourself doesn’t mean doing it alone. There isn’t a singular music industry. Instead, there are industries that serve every facet of the foundation upon which you build your career, and you have to master them all to succeed and grow as an artist...Today we’ll tackle another subset of roles to help grow your music career: those associated with merchandise and getting media exposure."
View Full ArticlePosted: Oct 5, 2020
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Dre Dimura of Bandzoogle.
"With so many methods of promoting your music online these days, the importance of having a dedicated website can often be overlooked. Websites are still one of the best tools to drive fan engagement, curate your web presence, and manage the rest of your socials from a branded homebase. Here are five reasons to have a website for your band or solo musical effort..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Oct 28, 2019
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand. This is an excerpt from his book How to Make It in the New Music Business (second edition). This post was originally published on Music Connection.
"Before you release your next single or album, make sure you set it up for the best chance of success. Don’t forget to do these 26 things before the release..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Sep 11, 2018
Category: Fans
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**Guest post written by Ariel Hyatt, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"This post focuses on how to energize and connect with Community 2 – Engaged Fans. These fans are your Active Online Audience...They know who you are but they may not know you very well (yet)...In Community 2 contribution is critical but engagement is even more vital." View Full Article
Posted: Jul 2, 2018
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Josh Wardini, Editorial Contributor and Community Manager at websitebuilder.org, originally featured on The Music Entrepreneur HQ.
"Today we’re going to talk about increasing your music website’s conversion rates. And by this, we mean making on-site changes that will give you more results, even if the same number of people visit your site. We’ll also be looking at an example of how conversion rates work, and why increasing them could mean a much more profitable music career for you. So without dragging out the intro, let’s get to the good stuff."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 30, 2018
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Melanie of Bandzoogle.com.
"It’s no secret that in order to appear professional, your own website with your own .com address is essential. So what ingredients make for a great musician website exactly? You’ve got the music of course, some images, videos, and show dates. Pulling together content is an easy first step. The part where many musicians get stalled is with the website’s design..."
Posted: Feb 26, 2018
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Ty Hager, a writer, songwriter, novelist, radio producer, and owner of Bargain Bandsites & Bios in Nashville.
"With all the spiffy technological advances, getting your music out there is easier than ever before...However, some things technology simply can't do: it can't un-suck a sucky song, and it can't un-crap a crappy bio. There are ways to make songs suck less, and to make bios less crappy...These are just a few things I've learned not only from writing bios (and press releases) for thirty years, but from reading countless articles on the subject. I'll share enough of the highlights with you to maybe un-crap yours a bit, or to help you start from scratch!"
Posted: Feb 19, 2018
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Allison S. of Bandzoogle.com.
"The best way to keep fans focused on you is through your own custom website. A website puts the focus on you and your music. It’s easy to build a website, but how do you know if you did it right? Let’s take a look at the most common ways bands win and lose with their website."
Posted: Jul 3, 2017
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Paula Tolly, one half of the Boca Raton based Americana duo 33 Years.
"Did your bass player just move out of town? Are you broke and can’t afford the next photo shoot? Looking for a way to make a bigger online splash?? Don’t fret! Here are a few DIY Band Fixes that you can try RIGHT NOW before your next gig."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 17, 2017
Category: Sponsorship
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**Guest post written by Corey Koehler, an indie singer-songwriter from Minnesota, as featured in his blog MusicGoat.com.
"You heard right: Music sponsorships and endorsements are real and there are a ton of companies that sponsor musicians. But there’s one small problem. Small indie musicians, like you and I, do not have audiences big enough for them to sponsor us..." View Full Article
Posted: Sep 19, 2016
Category: The Musician Business
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**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: Sep 8, 2015
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest Post written by Melanie Kealey of Bandzoogle.com.
"Making your website rank well in search engines can seem like a daunting task...Even starting with a few small things can help with the search engine optimization (also called SEO) for your website. Let’s look at a few quick ways to update the text on your website to help it rank better in search results!" View Full Article
Posted: May 11, 2015
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Hugh Mcintyre via the DIY Musician Blog, originally posted on the SonicBids Blog.
"These days, everybody’s email inboxes are fuller than ever, and people are becoming more and more selective about what newsletters they sign up for. Here are six tips that could help you..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 9, 2015
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.
"The problem is a vast majority of biographies on websites are written by either the artist or the individual hired to construct the website. And when you take into consideration that the best web bios are the ones that combine elements of both journalism and marketing, well, you can see why problems arise...So what can you do to make YOUR biography better should you choose to attempt to write it on your own?"
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 3, 2015
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest Post from Dave Cool, from Bandzoogle.com.
"Your website should be a place fans enjoy visiting to get your latest news, hear your latest music, watch your videos, and shop from your online store. Here are some things to avoid that could be turning fans away from your site for good..." View Full Article
Posted: Feb 17, 2015
Category: Promotion
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**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: Dec 9, 2014
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest Post from David Dufresne, from Bandzoogle.com.
"The Internet is a big and scary place. When you're a musician and your focus is to practice, write and perform, figuring out where to spend the little time and money you have left for an "online strategy" can be confusing. Many bands we've met tell us that they see it as a real challenge. Here are some reasons why I think [owning your own .COM] is necessary..." View Full Article
Posted: Nov 4, 2014
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Brandon Seymour, musician, SEO analyst, web designer, and social media marketer.
"I know - I'm not the first genius to point out that the music industry is dead. I'm also not the first person to point out that artists have been complaining about this for a very long time. I just can't help but wonder if maybe - just maybe - the music industry needed to die..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Oct 7, 2014
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest Post from Bandzoogle.com.
"We cannot overstate the importance of photos when it comes to your website. In fact, we often tell bands that they should spend more money on professional photos than on their website. Great photos can create a positive first impression for potential new fans, as well as for industry and media. But if the images on your website look unprofessional, chances are, people won’t take you or your music seriously..." View Full Article
Posted: Aug 11, 2014
Category: Live Performance
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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.
"When you take into consideration how many singers and musicians complain about the current state of artist-venue relationships, you would think most performers would jump at the opportunity to explore alternative methods of putting on shows and generating income...I'm here to tell you that there IS an alternative live show model, house shows, that many artists ARE having a great deal of success with...So I reached out to somebody for answers..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jul 21, 2014
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest Post from Bandzoogle.com.
"When reviewing websites for musicians, we generally break down the reviews into 3 categories. For each category, there are certain key things that we look out for...So here’s our 16-point band website assessment checklist to measure how your website is doing..." View Full Article
Posted: Jan 27, 2014
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest Post from Bandzoogle.com.
Bandzoogle has released a free eBook called "Building Your Website: A Step-By-Step Guide for Bands and Musicians”. Whether you’re building a new website, or looking to improve your current one, the eBook offers tons of tips to help you make an effective website for your music. View Full Article
Posted: May 27, 2013
Category: Promotion
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**Guest Post from Bandzoogle.com.
"Having an email newsletter might sound a little old school, but the reality is that it’s still proving to be the best way to keep in touch with your fans over the long term. So when it comes to fan engagement, having a newsletter should be high on your priority list of tools to use."
View Full ArticlePosted: Feb 18, 2013
Category: Websites
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**Guest post from bandzoogle.com.
During the last few years, musician website and marketing platform Bandzoogle have reviewed thousands of musician websites, and often, the same issues come up over and over again. So they've released a free eBook called "Quick Fix! 12 Ways to Instantly Improve Your Band Website".
View Full Article