How TWEET It Is to Be #TAGGED by You! (News from the TWITTER Guru)!

From the Twitter Guru: 3 Twitter Hashtag Secrets

A Guest Post by Bobby Owsinski

If you've been reading this blog for a while you know that I'm a big proponent using Twitter as a promotional tool. The key to using Twitter that way is by including hashtags in your tweets, or the # symbol before a keyword (like "#musicmarketing" which I'll be using when I tweet about this blog). This is one of the ways that people can find your tweet when they do a such for a particular topic.

If you're using them already and you don't find your followers increasing, check out the following "secrets:"

1. Don't be ironic. I know that it's the cheeky thing to post something like #badcupofcoffee or #rudepeople, but that doesn't help you reach the people that you want to reach. To find the right keyword, go to search.twitter.com, plug in the keyword that you think will work, then check out how popular it is and what some of the other keywords that people are using.

2. Limit the number. It's been proven that using more than 2 hashtags in a tweet is counterproductive. It just confuses people reading the tweet. Stick to only 1 or 2.

3. Target your audience. Once again, do a search to find which hashtags fit for the audience that you're trying to reach. I have a list of about 20 that I can mix and match depending upon the nature of the tweet and which audience might like it more. For instance, the list is different for the tweets from this blog, which is about the music business, than for my Big Picture blog, which is about music production. To narrow it down further on that blog, I have a list that's targeted to musicians (#drums, #drummers, #guitars, etc.) or recording (#recording, #producers, etc.).

Using hashtags isn't hard and they can bring results beyond anything you might expect. All you have to do is use them correctly.

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DeDe is a Singer/Songwriter from Texas who uses TWITTER daily to connect with her #fans and the #music industry, check her out at: https://twitter.com/DeDeWMusic and http://www.DeDe-Music.com.  Thanks for the guest post Bobby!

Absolutely THE BEST Advice I've Ever Seen Online about Artists, their Music, Making Demos, Record Labels and "Making It"! -DeDe :)

What If The Label Says “YES”?

A guest post by Johnny Dwinell of Daredevil Production

So Kelly and I are at a private party with Anthony Orio & friends and we end up in a conversation over beers and cigars about artist development and the damage that happens when artists and/or songwriters get their lucky break too early.  What if you get the opportunity of a lifetime to take a big step towards your dream and you’re not developed enough, ill prepared, or worse, searching only for fame?  In short, what if the label says YES?!?!

That’s right, I said it.  What if the record label or publishing company says “yes”?  Are you ready?

Do you know where you’re going artistically?

Are you prepared to fight for your vision or will you be lost in the crowd with your hat in your hand?

Do you understand the hustle of the business and how to operate intelligently within it so you can capitalize on the coming momentum?

The NFL has classes that all rookies are required to take to deal with this instantaneous rise in the players brand awareness and cash flow, but they certainly DON’T offer this in the music business.  In fact, they would prefer you don’t know; more money for the powers that be.

You can’t just stick your toes in the water; you have to be ALL IN.  To make a living, you have to be a student of the game.  If you don’t know your business, you’re being lazy.  Trust me, THEY WILL know your business because they’re professionals and you will suffer for your lack of knowledge one way or the other.

What if the Publishing Company Says YES?

Read More...

www.DeDe-Music.com

www.Facebook.com/DeDeWedekind

twitter.com/DeDeWMusic

I got this one today....I will attempt to answer it!

....How do I sell my music on the web?

So how does one really go about "selling" their song(s) on the internet?  Okay, so this is a real doozie of a question because it's so broad, but I will attempt to answer. (Gee I sure wish someone had told me all this stuff when I started out doing this full time less than 2 years ago-it would have saved me about a gazillion hours...but I'm NOT bitter!) I'm glad we had my nephew (Brendon, 22, a songwriter too, who'd a thunk that??) here this weekend, since he was asking about all this same stuff.  I know a lot of musicians need this information and don't know where to start or even look...it was good for me to review it all with him, so I'd know what to write here...

First of all, every song you write or want to put on a CD, needs to first be copyrighted (http://www.copyright.gov/register/sound.html).  And the old mail it to yourself trick isn't really working too well any more... You can register like 30 songs online at the .gov site at a time, for only $35!  And it's really important that you make a good if not great, demo. It can be a home recording if you have a good home mic and studio setup, but ideally it should be a professionally cut demo (some of the opportunities out there I discuss below take home recordings, but not that many). And have I ever mentioned that it's really competitive out there? So you DO want your music to sound at least as good if not better than everyone else's, right?  But that's another bloggie...

The advice from some of my friends on Linked In Music is all good advice. They say get a good  online presence.  What works well for me is to have my own website, and yes, it does have to be great, (sorry!) My new one is from Section 101 (yes, that one, the www.DeDe-Music.com one!) and it's very cheap considering...and (aw shucks) it is pretty awesome too (thanks Kathleen!), especially compared to the last one I had which it beats by about 2 million coconuts to negative 1 million coconuts (so what if I happen to love coconuts?).  I switched to Section 101, because my last website cost a whole lotta cha-ching, but looked like a whole lotta caca-doo.  Plus, Section 101 covers your Hosting and you can do all your own updates for like $265 per year. (Google: "Section 101" and ask for Kathleen, and please tell 'em DeDe sent you, okay?) I also have Facebook, Twitter, MySpace (aka MyWaste), and YouTube. Looks like I may need to do a website building blog now too, hmm?  Also: good photos and great videos seem to be where it's at now, especially music videos.

The better you get with Social Media, the better you will do, but if you're like me you need to work on it, (BTW I didn't know what LOL was for the longest time, I thought it was a new division of AOL or something...yikes)! And of course get out there and play music!  Build a fan base with your gigs, your Social Media and website by posting some of your songs (or just clips if you don't want people to rip them off free on the internet! (which, of course has NEVER happened to me; sarcasm completely unintentional).  There is free software on the web to make clips for your websites, and also even for hosting a website, etc. 

It's up to you if you want to try to compile your music into a CD to sell.  If you tour and do a lot of gigs, you probably need to have at least one good CD (8 plus songs), or EP (with 5-7 songs), and you need to get it mixed and mastered, especially if you don't use one producer for all the songs.  If you do make a CD, then iTunes and CD Baby are where it's at to sell them online if you don't want to ship it all yourself...

Once you have great songs (and some decent professional looking photos), I would join some of the what I call "Music Licensing and Opportunities (and yes, some of these "opportunites" are utter & complete BS!) Sites".  When you do, make sure you have good quality MP3's of your song available to upload to these sites: Music XRay, Broadjam.com (singer/songwriter), ReverbNation, Music Clout, & Hitlicense, and others. They all allow you to set up a free or semi-free account and upload your songs and send them to opportunities and synch licensing opportunities, for a fee.  The two best for me are Reverbnation and Broadjam. I have not personally had much success yet with the others, but it sure beats what I call "the mega-waterhose treatment" of mailing your music to all the people out there in the biz.  I did join Taxi, (and I'll save that fiasco for another time), but suffice it to say it was NOT a great investment...

So once you join, you build your page, you post your music and you submit it to the RIGHT opportunities (they give you reference songs, and a description, so please read & listen to them).  If they want a sound/song like Taylor Swift, and you sound like Otis Redding or God forbid, Kermit the Frog, please DON'T waste your time and money submitting! Okay, now repeat after me: "join, build, post, submit", "join, build, post, submit".  Got it? Now wasn't that easy?

Let me know how you are doing with all of this, okay?  If you have any questions, you can comment here or email me on my webpage at: www.DeDe-Music.com/About.  Please check out my weekly  "Musician Stuff" BLOG here:  http://dedewedekind.blogspot.com/, & if you have time after reading all this, please LIKE me at: www.facebook.com/DeDeWedekind. Thanks!!!

All the best to you in music & this thing we call "life"!  DeDe