EMAIL IS STILL KING

From DIY Musician by Chris Robley:
"Email is still the most effective form of online marketing. When you want to encourage fans to purchase your music, or leave a review, or tag you in photos that they took at your show, or watch your newest YouTube video, EMAIL is the best way to get someone to take action"...

Click here for full article.

#jimrosecircus, #jimrose

CREATING VALUE

Posted in: Music Promotion, Tips by: Graham

"Creating great music for yourself is one thing. Creating it to share with others and grow a fan base that helps fund your music is quite another thing. What if you don’t know anything about sales or marketing? How do you get your music out to more people and how do you make money off of your music so you can continue to make albums and be creative, maybe even make a living?

Here are some thoughts… People Pay For The Value You Create At the end of the day all income or money is generated by someone adding value to someone else’s life. Business and sales are simply the art of creating value in the lives of others. Whether it’s selling you a car that helps you get to work or selling you a great meal at a beautiful restaurant, each add value to your life. The music business is no different.

For years people have paid for music because it adds value to their lives. It makes them feel a certain way. Music is awesome! That’s why you’re reading this website right now. The same is true for concerts. The live performance is a unique experience that adds value to people’s lives so they are willing to pay for it. Whether the actual product (CD, MP3 purchase) or the experience (live show, concert), both are ways an artist has created value and sold it to you. And you were happy to pay. You Add Value With More Than Your Recordings So the key with YOUR music is to not just think about creating great music, but creating something that is valuable to other people. This can be way more than just your actual recordings. Some examples: live shows, online performances, behind the scenes videos, Q&A Skype sessions, lyric explanation videos, demos, live acoustic recordings, covers, collaborations, PDFs of your original notes and lyrics on paper, merchandise like t-shirts, mugs, wrist bands, etc. These days, more than ever, fans want to be really connected to their favorite artists. The beauty of being an indie band or artist is that you can offer your fans way more access than ever before. Music is just the beginning, the foundation for a total experience that can add massive value to your fans.

Give Away Your Best Thing For Free So what can you practically do to market your music to more people and eventually generate income from your passion? You’ll need to build a relationship with potential fans, one in which they are happy to offer you their email address in exchange for something. You want their email address because you want to better interact with them directly and offer them more amazing stuff in the future. You’ll want to let them know when you’ll be playing a show in their area, or when your newest EP is out, or your latest music video, etc. But to secure this relationship you’ll need to offer value to them first. You need to give away your best thing for free. This could be your EP (like I did most recently), which is hard. It’s your baby. It’s the whole point of why you do what you do. But remember, it’s not the only way you create value in people’s lives. It is, however, the foundation for everything else you can do for your fans. The idea here is simply create fan loyalty from Day 1. Why mess around and offer something lame. Give them your best stuff free, start a relationship, and then continue to show them other ways you can add value to their lives with either free stuff or paid stuff. "

#jimrosecircus #jimrose

DIY BAND FUNDING

"The 3 Most Profitable DIY Revenue Streams, And Why Many Artists Succeed at Only One of them.

Independent artists can make more money than ever before. The walls of major label distribution have crumbled, and have been down for a decade. Social networks make promotion to fans easier and cheaper. Add in home recording, crowd-sourced artwork, and other cost cutting maneuvers and DIY musicians can be financially successful. Or so goes the myth…" by Kyle Bylin.

Click on the link for the full article: http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/the-3-most-profitable-diy-revenue-streams-and-why-many-artis.html

#JimRose
#JimRoseCircus

#JimRoseCircus ORGANIZE DIY STRATEGY

"You've gone through the entire process of writing, recording, mixing, mastering, replicating and distributing your music. Now what?" Click on the link for full article.

http://www.renegadeproducer.com/music-marketing-plan.html

#jimrosecircus #jimrose

#jimrosecircus THE RIGHT MINDSET FOR BANDS

"You’ve watched your musical heroes take the stage to thunderous applause, adulation and love, and you burn for that, for yourself, and you want to be a professional writer of songs. The songwriting call has whispered in your ears for years now, and you’ve decided to answer it. You are ready to embrace it, to begin your journey as a songwriter…." 
Click on the link for the full article.
http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2014/04/letter-young-songwriter-mary-gauthier/

#jimrosecircus 
#jimrose

#jimrosecircus HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR BIO

Musicians success usually isn’t measured solely by their music. Their reputation and image come into play as well.  Here are some tips to improve your bands bio.
http://blog.songcastmusic.com/2014/03/03/improving-your-bands-bio/

#JimRoseCircus
#JimRose

#jimrosecircus NUMBER 1 MISTAKE BANDS MAKE

We have all seen bands make hay out of being anti-establishment. They revel in thumbing their noses to the music industry and the fans eat it up. I assure you they weren't anti-establishment until they were hooked up to the big machine that creates the fame. 

Rage Against The Machine opened for me and it was one of their first live gigs ever. They did no raging and in fact while thanking me they said something to the effect of: "If we ever get famous we won't forget this, Jim". Of course other than Tom the guitarist I've never seen or heard from any of them since. Seeing Tom doesn't mean much because he goes to a lot of social events. 
I will say that Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam were more from the heart about the anti-establishment ramblings, but there were angles and other motives connected to them as well. I know this to be true because Eddie and I were pretty close friends back in his angst days. 

I love Eddie, Tom, Rage and Pearl Jam. My point is that a band that is anti-establishment before gaining fame is doomed to failure because the actual number of people who can make or break careers these days is less than 400, and everyone knows each other. 

If a band causes trouble and has no fame leverage, word spreads quick and top shelf entertainment bizz people will have nothing to do with them. Those bands are in effect over. They can still do a few regional small shows and pretend to be rock stars, but any chance at a bite of the big apple is gone. It sucks too because I've seen really talented artists get labeled as trouble and deep down they weren't. They were playing a role; their mistake was playing it too soon.

#JimRoseCircus

#JimRose

#jimrosecircus HOW TO MAKE YOUR VIDEO GO VIRAL

32 viral video ideas for busy musicians from DIY MUSICIAN

Click the link below to learn how to promote your music and build a superfan with creative viral video content:

http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2014/02/build-superfan-32-viral-video-ideas-busy-musicians/

#JimRose
#JimRoseCircus

Sideshow World: FEATS OF TORTURE

WARNING!! DO NOT TRY ANYTHING YOU READ HERE!

DISCLAIMER

The contents of this section are dangerous. Misuse of the material can cheapen 
an art form or at the very least make you look stupid. More importantly, misuse 
of this information may result in jail time or death. Do not attempt any of these 
tricks without the direct supervision of a responsible professional.

One of the first books I ever read that got me interested in SECRETS OF THE STRANGE 
was Feats of Torture, written by Joseph Ovette. This book is now out of print, but it was 
so influential to me that I’ve included his experiences in this chapter. I’ve also added a 
few of my own.

BRANDING ONESELF WITH A HOT IRON

It will be well to mention that the main qualities in any of these feats are nerve and pure
guts, and plenty of both. That is putting it plain. Only a person with plenty of nerve should
consider tackling this type of work.

All you need here is a common electric soldering iron properly connected and working, and
your arms bared. Hold the iron in your right hand and gently but lightly place the iron on
the skin, searing it.

IT WILL BURN, but not much, if the branding is lightly done. Be sure the iron is HOT.
An added effect can be had by smearing the spot to be branded with Vaseline. Then when
the iron touches the arm it will cause a hissing sound. This lessens the danger of burning,
but watch for persons who faint!

NEEDLE JABBING

Use long surgical needles and be sure they are sterilized well. Extend your arm.
Tell someone to grasp a bunch of skin and to pull it up. With the needle in your right hand
jab it through the skin.  The only pain you will experience will be a slight sting. Several
needles can be so inserted.
Draw out the needle slowly and the blood will not flow and thus you can also demonstrate
the stoppage of the blood. The needles can also be run through the cheek, from cheek to
cheek, or through the loose skin under the neck.

Note: A firm pressure before inserting the needle practically anesthetizes the area.
This is known as “pressure anesthesia”, and is frequently used by dentists before inserting
their needle. Only a sharp sting is felt.

FANGS OF LUCIFER

A variation of the above was marketed by me as the Fangs of Lucifer. In this the fakir
demonstrates his ability to render his body immune to common place injuries. Long
heated needles are deliberately thrust through various parts of the body and permitted
to cool. They are  then withdrawn and no blood flows from the wounds, nor is there
any sign of pain.

Principle and application are the same as the preceding torture. But since the explanations
given are fuller we will expand them here. No preparation is needed, although rubbing
the arm with a strong salt solution before the test will prove beneficial. Warm needles.
That is, heat them, but do not get them red hot since that may blunt the points.
Insert needles with a firm, steady push, either fakir or an assistant
holding up the flesh (pressure anesthesia).

A slight pain will be experienced as the needle goes through; after that no pain with
the possible exception of a throbbing due to the excessive heat of the needle.
Several needles may be inserted, then permitted to cool.
In drawing these out, do so quickly, since the needles will tend to stick
as the flesh may be seared or the cooling blood coagulate.
To finish, dab the punctures with peroxide or iodine and upon retiring, place a dab
of carbolated Vaseline on the wounds. In a couple of days all signs of the
experiment will disappear.

In using surgical needles, you will find them very thin, the thinner
the better, and sharp.
The genuine fakir uses hatpins which, by the way, are not very sharp nor strong.
You, though, should sterilize your needles, the heat in most cases being ample.

There are some who, to make the effect more gruesome, break the needles off
or suspend weight from their ends.
A dab of Vaseline can add to the effect since it will hiss and sear like burning
flesh when touched with the hot needle. This is not a pleasant sight or effect,
to be sure, but there are many who have found that they can sit and grin and
shove needles into their skin at will.

More Torture Feats on Sideshow World -Scam-Fraud-Rip Off-Con Artist Beware-

Again, Do not attempt any of these tricks without the direct supervision of 
a responsible professional!!

Source: sideshowworld.com

#jimrose

#jimrosecircus

#jimrosecircus new artist DIY tips

One thing that I see time and time again on tours with other DIY bands is the blurring of the line between business and creative on the way up.  When you are on tour with a band, make friends with them, hang out with them, party with them, whatever… but don’t turn every hang into a networking meeting.  From what I’ve seen, it never works as well as a band thinks it will.  A lot of times they don’t make a lot of the decisions anyway (because they aren’t a DIY like you… They have higher ups to answer to).  If their manager is around, THEN put on your business hat.  If you’re hanging out, grabbing a beer with the headliner after a show, just hang… Don’t start selling yourself for other tours or collaborations.  All that fun stuff happens with time and with a good relationship. 

Finally, this is a full time job.  If you’re going to “do it yourself”, expect to do A LOT more work than if you were just going to be on some label where they do the work for you.  Lots of emails, late nights, early mornings, hiring, firing, failing, problem solving, budgeting… PLUS the creating, writing, performing, practicing, interviews, photo shoots, video shoots… EVERYTHING.

#jimrose
#jimrosecircus