Infinite Fan Base

The Web stats portion of the ‘Expanding your FanBase online’ is up on YouTube.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/InfiniteFanBase

A mailing list is both a great promotion tool and a marketing asset for a band. In my opinion, it is one of the most important methods for reaching fans. On the other hand, it is also the easiest to abuse, by sending out too many notifications or unprofessional emails.

Most bands/artists use the mailing list in the traditional way. When they have a big show coming up, they send out an email blast to their fans letting them know about the time and venue. There’s nothing wrong with this practice. If you aren’t doing it, you should be.

However, I think there are two other ways to use a mailing list that have a greater long term effect.

1) Saying ‘Thank you’ to your fans

2) Providing exclusive information or updates about the band

Saying ‘Thanks’ is something that few artists/bands do with their mailing list. An artist will almost always thank the audience at a live show, but rarely do you see it online. And, it’s a shame that it doesn’t happen more often, because fans appreciate it when they are recognized by the artist. Becoming a successful artist only happens with great fans and a little recognition goes a long way. When it comes to your fan base, you would do well to remember this quote: “I would thank you from the bottom of my heart, but for you my heart has no bottom. ~ Author Unknown”

With the second method, when you provide information and updates to your mailing list, you are forming a connection with the fans. By giving information with no expectation of a return favor (like coming to the show), you establish a greater and more complete connection with your fans.

What do both of these methods have in common? They build up goodwill. And, as a band, there’s nothing more important for your fans to have.

your fans. So, you need to stay in touch with them, right?

Many bands use MySpace, Facebook, et. al. to spread news and info about the band. However, very few are taking advantage of the next step – a mailing list. You should keep a mailing list of fans email address (and street addresses) for your future campaigns.

I find most people don’t do this for two reasons:

1) It is work – There is some effort in making sure that you capture email addresses of fans.  In practice, there really is only a few technical details to work out, these details seem daunting to many folks. It is a lot easier to push a few buttons in Facebook than craft an email message.

2) It feels invasive – With all the spam emails being sent around,  some musicians are timid when it comes to sending out emails for fear of annoying fans. The reality is this – If they’ve signed up for your list, then they want to hear from you. As long you use discretion for distributing information to your list, your list will grow faster than it shrinks.

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