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3KeystoFanListSuccess

#1.OwnYOURList! Wecantsaythisenoughtomusicians.HavingMySpaceorFacebookfriendsisnotareal fanlist.SamewithTwitter.Theyareallgreatservicesandeachhasadifferentpurpose, buthowmuchoftheactualrealinfodoyouhaveofyourfans/friends/followerson thoseplaces?Canyoueasilyviewalistofeveryonesrealname,emailaddress,location, phonenumber,etc?Theanswerisno,yetmanymusiciansforgetthisbecausethe serviceisthehotinternetsiteofthemomentandeveryonesaysOh,youneedtobeon [insertsitehere]. Yourbandshouldhaveapresenceonthesesocialnetworks(moreonthatinalater post),butyouneedtousetheseservicestofeedpeopletoYOURfanlist.Fan RelationshipManagementserviceslikeFanBridgegiveclientshtmlcodethatletthem putasignupformontheirMySpace,Facebook,website,etc,sotheirfanscansignup directtothebandsownlist. Onceyouhavebuiltyourownlist,youcandoamazingthingswithitthatyoucouldnt dootherwisethingslike: Targetingmessagesbyzipcodeandradius(soyoudontneedtoblastyour wholelist) Schedulingmessagestobesentatacertaintime Groupingfansbasedoncustomcriteria(streetteam,bloggers,groupies,etc) Trackingyourmessagestoseewhoopens,clicks,andmuchmore Tonsofothercoolfeaturesthatsaveyoutimeandbuildyourcareer. #2.CommunicateRegularly Mostmusiciansknowtheyshouldregularlycommunicatewiththeirfans,yettheyare oftenatalossforthingstosay.Wereheretotellyouthatyoushouldntbestuckon whattosay,butrathermakesureyoutalktoyourfansonaregularbasis!Whydofans signupforyourlist?Tohearfromyou! Dontbeboringandonlytellthemaboutthisshow,thatshow,andyournewalbum.Tell themaboutYOU.TheywanttobefansofyourmusicANDyouasaperson.Talkabout greatmoviesyouveseenrecently.Talkaboutotherartistsalbumsyouverecently listenedto.Comeupwithaspecialcityoftheweek/monthandexplainwhy. Whenwelookatthefanlistsizeofartistswhocommunicateregularlyandartistswho dont,itbecomesveryclear.Theartistswhotalktotheirfansregularly(whetheritis onceeverytwoweeksoronceamonth)haveliststhatareconstantlygrowingandhave betterinteraction(opens/clicks).Artistswhosendanemaileveryfewmonthsbecause FanBridge.com|contact@FanBridge.com 1

FanBridge.com

theyhavenothingtotalkaboutareoneswhoselistsizeseitherstayflatoractually decrease. Makesuretouseaservice,likeFanBridge,thatincludesaForwardtoaFriendlinkin thefooterofeverycampaign.Thisletsfanseasilypassyourmessageontotheirfans andserviceslikeourswillallowyoutotrackwhoisdoingit.Itsabestpracticetotake thisinfoandrewardthosepeoplethatarespreadingthewordaboutyou.Theyrelikely yourmostavidfans,andrewardingthemwillincentivizethemtocontinuetopromote youandyourmusicamongtheirowngroupsoffriends. #3.IncludeLinkstoPlacesYouWantFanstoGo Thisoneseemsobvious,butyoudbesurprisedathowmanybandsdonotincludealink totheirwebsiteineachmessage.Notonlyshouldyoubeincludingalinktoyour website,butyoushouldhavealinktoyourMySpace/Facebook/Twitter/etcprofile, yourmerchstore,aplacewheretheycandownloadyourmusic,yourtourdates,and anythingelsethatsimportant.Youllbesurprisedhowmuchmoretrafficyougetwhen youstartincludinglinks. Aservicelikeourswillmakeitaseasilyaspossibleforclientstoincludelinksintheir campaigns.Forexample,bycheckingonebox,youcanautomaticallyincludelinkstobuy yourmusic.Wealsotrackeverylinkyouputinacampaign,soyoucanseeEXACTLYwho clickedonwhichlinkinyourmessage,andwhentheyclicked.Thisisveryvaluableinfo, andwillhelpyoutargetfuturecampaignstospecificpeoplebasedontheirpastactions.

BonusTip!
#4.GoProfessional Donttryanddoityourselfusingoutlook/applemail/gmail/msn/hotmail/yahoo/aol/ entourage/customserverscripts.Unlessyourcoreskillsarecomputerprogramming, email/mobiledeliverability,andrelatedthings,youareprobablybetteroffleavingthe fanlistmanagementtoaprofessionalserviceandfocusingonwhatyoudobest:making andplayingmusic.Thereareafewprovidersoutthere(somesuck,somearegreat),and obviouslywerepartialtoFanBridgeforabandsfanrelationshipmanagementneeds. Youwantsomethingthatssimple,intuitive,andwillhelpyoutoeasilyandefficiently maximizethatrelationshipbetweenyourfansandyourmusic.Andyoudontneedto payanarmandlegthesedaystogetthat.

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