The World Wide Web can be an extremely intimidating place; especially when you are uncertain of using it to your advantage. Ariel Hyatt is a woman who understands the importance of the internet as a marketing tool for self promotion in the web 2.0 era and she wants the world to know how to adequately use this inexpensive tool to connect with one another and achieve the success that you ultimately crave in the music business. Hyatt’s list of experience is a mile long and she has worked with, arguably, some of the most influential personalities of our time. She is also the president and founder of her own company, Cyber PR where they work with mostly independent musicians/bands and she helps them to find their brand, understand online marketing, and she is the author of three books on social media and marketing for artists. Ariel gave The Vocalist Magazine some essentials that every aspiring artist should know.
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1 What do vocalists need to know about the current music environment?
Artists need to know that unless they care about their fans and take the time to be interested and interesting, they’re not going to get very far. Most artists that are just coming up are actually not ready for a big national publicist; they have to start on a grassroots level which is what we do. We work at a level where it’s appropriate to start, we’re very personable; you can just pick up a phone and call us, you can’t really do that with most PR (Public Relations) firms.
2 What advice do aspiring vocalists need in terms of marketing themselves?
Build a tribe online. It is never too early to start that. Do not wait until you’ve recorded your album or have the perfect band, etc. It takes a very long time to build your brand online and so start right away, start experimenting, start trying to find your voice. Figure out what your audience wants to hear, figure out who they are and that needs to start today.
3 What are some of the mistakes vocalists are making when it comes to marketing themselves on social media?
Too much self promotion! Stop talking about your products, stop talking about yourself. Far too often it’s hey, I’m in the studio, hey my album is out…just stop; no one cares about that stuff. They only care about that stuff if they care about you first and that is much more important than all of the self promotion. I would caution artists that your first three months on social media, don’t say anything self promotional.
4 Top three tips for vocalists when creating and updating their social media pages, other than no self-promotion.
* Share photos, people love to be taken along for the ride, visualization is really good.
* Don’t be scared to stand for something. I don’t care if you stand for vegetarian cooking, something political, maybe it’s a cause, etc. Whatever it may be, just stand for something and don’t just talk about yourself. Talk about things that are greater than you, now that doesn’t mean you talk about things/issues that you know nothing about.
* Do not be one dimensional. I think the worst thing you could do is be no one online. Find something to share; things that inspire you make you laugh or cry, I mean there are a million things to share, pick something!